Christmas Revelations
by egyptianriver
Summary: AU. Dumbledore made a ruthless decision to secure Harry's future. Now after fourteen years the truth is about to hit the fan. Slash RLSB
1. The Minor Secret

WARNINGS

1 This is SLASH. Remus/Sirius slash to be precise.

2 Manipulative Dumbledore. I like manipulative Dumbledore. The man is a leading a war; he darn well _should_ be manipulative. I dislike the idea he knew how the Dursleys treated Harry less than the idea he was too stupid to check up on Saviour of the Wizarding World and the home he personally selected for him.

3 This story is an AU and starts during the Christmas holidays in OotP.

4 This first chapter is more of a prologue and hasn't got much to do with warning 2 (but lots to do with warning 1).

5 OCs

6 Some derogatory language and some swearing.

-

Christmas Revelations

1.The Minor Secret

It was three days after they had visited Mr Weasley in hospital. Harry had a strange sense of time suspended as they waited for Christmas and for Mr Weasley to grow stronger. Ron and Ginny were tense and Hermione was stringently comforting. Harry felt if he moved too loudly they might shatter into broken pieces so he avoided them when he could.

Mrs Weasley made him even more nervous. He recognised the stealthy sips from a quickly hidden glass and the excited and repetitive speech from his Aunt Petunia, just before she got vicious. Harry did his best to ensure he was never in the same room as Mrs Weasley.

Instead he spent time hiding out with Sirius, who was so excited about Christmas that Harry began to see why everyone made such a fuss about the festival. Sirius told him three stories about his parents at Christmas. Harry's favourite was the one with the enchanted mistletoe.

So when he spotted Mrs Weasley topping up her glass from an ornate crystal decanter, he rapidly decided he didn't want a snack and that he needed to talk to Sirius. Ducking out of the kitchen he hurried up the stairs. Listening carefully for a moment, he tracked Sirius to his bedroom.

He knocked and tentatively poked his head around the door.

"Can I come in?"

"Course you can Harry," said Sirius expansively, bouncing on his bed. Lupin, slouched against the desk, nodded his head.

"You're always welcome Harry."

"If he can put up with two old dogs reminiscing, eh Moony."

"Sirius Black, I am not a dog."

Harry giggled as his old Professor pouted reproachfully at his godfather.

"Sorry," said Sirius not sounding in the least apologetic, "I mean one old dog and one devilishly dashing young wolf."

"Sirius Lucifer Black."

"Yes Moony?"

Lupin threw his hands in the air. "Nothing at all. Now come in Harry, was there something you wanted?"

Harry stepped in and closed the door. "Not really. I was wondering if you could tell me the mistletoe story again? You never told me what my Dad did for revenge."

"Sirius," hissed Lupin suddenly sounding truly annoyed.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair. "It's a good story Moony. If you leave out the rat and leave out… that, there aren't so many left."

"We discussed this Sirius."

"No, you expounded at length. I wouldn't call it a discussion, myself."

Harry stared in disbelief as the two adults he loved best argued.

"I'm sorry," he said desperately, "I'll go."

"No," snapped Sirius and Lupin at the same time. They glared at each other for a long moment before Lupin dropped his gaze.

"Do whatever you want, Sirius, you will anyway."

"Harry deserves to know."

Lupin didn't say anything.

"I don't mind," said Harry, although he did really.

"Come and sit over here, Harry," said Sirius gesturing to the bed.

"Okay." Harry sat down, slightly nervous when Sirius shifted around to face him. Lupin sighed and came over to stand behind Sirius, resting one hand on his godfather's shoulder.

"Right," said Sirius, before wringing his hands and seeming to run out of words. Lupin sighed again.

"Harry," he said and Harry raised his head to look at him. Lupin squared his shoulders. "Harry, your godfather and I are in a relationship."

"You're queer," Harry squeaked in amazement.

"Yes," he said, voice tight with resignation. Sirius was looking down at his clenched hands, hiding behind his long dark hair.

"That's great," shrieked Harry, flinging himself at Sirius for a hug. Sirius wasn't expecting that and they would have tumbled off the bed if Lupin hadn't caught them.

"Well you took that well," said Sirius, sounding slightly stunned as he hugged Harry back. He flicked his hair away from his face and turned to grin at Lupin.

"See Moony, I told you it would be all right."

"Yes Padfoot, as always, you were quite correct," he replied dryly, ruffling Harry's hair with one hand.

"This is great." Sirius bounced excitedly.

"Well let the boy breathe."

"Uh, okay."

Harry sat up, grinning madly. "So did my father know?"

"Of course Prongs knew. In fact it's all his fault."

"Careful Padfoot, you're going to get yourself into trouble."

Sirius coughed, "Sorry I mean, I will be forever grateful for James' intervention."

"That's better."

"So what did he do? Did it have something to do with the mistletoe?"

"Yes it did, your father got his revenge by getting us drunk one night."

Harry drooped a little, that didn't sound like fun to him.

"But that wasn't all," Sirius took up the story, "He waited until we passed out and then stripped off our clothes and put us to bed."

"The same bed," said Lupin.

"We woke up the next morning with hangovers from hell and neither of us could apologise fast enough."

"And your father was sitting there on his bed laughing his arse off."

"Moony! Such language." Sirius mock-scolded. Lupin cuffed him gently over the head.

"There's no other way to describe it Padfoot." He looked across at Harry and explained, "He was laughing so hard he actually fell off the bed."

"We figured something was up at that point. Unfortunately by then we'd completely given ourselves away. Your dad had a quick-quote quill and said he wanted to see some serious-snoggage or he'd repeat everything we'd said. And then he started to do so, complete with breathless, girly voices."

"I don't think I have ever been so excruciatingly embarrassed." Lupin was blushing. Harry noticed to his surprise even Sirius looked a bit pink.

"So I decided the bastard deserved some major payback," Sirius grinned.

"What did you do?" he asked eagerly.

"We snogged," said Sirius with great satisfaction.

"James ran out the room shrieking about his innocent, virginal eyes." Lupin was doing a bad job of hiding a smile.

"Fortunately your mum was there to look after him."

"I believe a certain amount of mouth to mouth resuscitation was required," said Lupin primly. He'd given up on trying not to smile.

"Although any points we gained from that were lost, when Lily said she wanted to know if she could watch us."

It was Harry's turn to go bright red.

"Sirius! That's Harry's mother you're talking about."

"Sorry." Sirius deflated so fast it made Harry bite his lip.

"It's okay. Just as long as it never happened or anything," he added hastily.

"No, no," said Sirius apologetically. "Didn't stop us teasing Prongs about it for the rest of year though," he grinned irrepressibly and Lupin hit him again.

"So that is the whole sordid story of how we got together. As Padfoot said, it was indeed all your father's fault."

"Hey!" said Sirius. Harry giggled. Lupin straightened up and suddenly looked a lot like a Professor.

"It means a lot to me, and I know it does to Sirius too," he looked down and placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder. Sirius reached up to cover it with his own. "That you've been so accepting of us, Harry. If you have any questions we'd be happy to answer them."

"You're like married, right?"

"Well," said Lupin carefully, "Two men can't get married but Sirius and I think of ourselves like that, yes."

"Good," said Harry firmly. He loved his godfather and he liked his Professor, he didn't want either of them going away.

"So, uh, if you ever did get the chance to come and live with me, you'd be living with Moony too. Would that be all right?"

"Of course," said Harry, confused Sirius felt the need to ask. "I like Professor Lupin."

"Hmm, you realise I'm not really your Professor any more? I'd be happy if you'd call me Remus, or Moony if you prefer it. You know it was your father who came up with the nickname."

"Really?"

Lupin nodded. "Harry, you've been much more accepting than I'd have expected from someone raised by Vernon and Petunia..?" he trailed off, the expression on his face gently questioning.

Harry paused.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," said Lupin, though Sirius looked like he wanted to protest.

"No it's okay, I'm just used to not talking about Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack."

"Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack?" Lupin exchanged a quick glance with Sirius and sat down on the bed.

"Yes, they were faggots too."

Both men jumped.

"That's not the politest term you could use," said Lupin sternly.

"Sorry. That's what Uncle Vernon always called Uncle Hugh."

"Well it's a very unpleasant term. Like mudblood."

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry I said it."

"That's okay, you didn't understand. But since you do now I don't expect to hear you using it again."

Harry's face must have shown his puzzlement because Lupin continued, "You can use the term gay instead." He smiled slyly. "It has the advantage of applying to Sirius in multiple ways."

"Hey!"

"Assuming we can get him out of this blasted house."

"I thought you wanted us here?" demanded Sirius.

"I want you safe. Unfortunately this wretched mausoleum seems not to be answering the purpose."

"I-,"

"We'll talk about it later Padfoot. Right now I want to hear about Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack."

Sirius' attention snapped back to Harry. "Yes indeedy. Is Uncle Hugh Vernon's brother?"

"Was," said Harry sadly, "He was sick for a long time and then he died."

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry." Sirius curled one comforting arm around Harry's shoulders. "Were you very fond of him?"

"I loved him," said Harry defiantly, "He looked after me."

"Well I'm glad someone did," said Lupin, "Seeing as Petunia and Vernon clearly failed dismally."

Harry blinked. "They wouldn't let me talk about him." He felt himself dissolving into his frightened seven-year-old self. "They said he was bad. They wouldn't let me see Uncle Jack."

Sirius' arm tightened and pulled until he found he was sitting on Sirius' lap. Lupin pressed close from the other side wrapping his arms around them both.

"We want to hear about him and Uncle Jack," said Sirius, "They must be good men if you loved them."

"They were, they were." Harry could feel tears starting to trickle down his face but he was too upset to care. "They looked after me. Aunt Petunia didn't like having me in the house so I stayed with Uncle Hugh. He said he loved me."

"I'm sure he did Harry," said Sirius.

"He always tired and often he couldn't get out of bed but he used to read to me. He'd come to the park with me and Uncle Jack but he had to stay in the car so he didn't get cold. Uncle Jack used to let me sit on his shoulders when my feet got tired. He made me a birthday cake, all the middle slid out but it tasted really good. And they bought me presents. Aunt Petunia wouldn't let me take them back to Privet Drive, she said they were contaminated."

Sirius swore viciously. He pushed Harry into Lupin's arms and stalked about the room.

"I'm sorry," said Harry into Lupin's shoulder.

"Sirius calm down, you're frightening Harry."

"I'm not frightened," said Harry, wishing his voice hadn't wavered.

"I'm sorry Harry, I'm not mad with you. I'm mad with that bitch who calls herself your Aunt. Lily had to have been adopted, nothing else explains it."

"Sirius Black, that doesn't sound like someone calming down to me."

"It's all right," said Harry, "I don't know why I'm so upset. Uncle Hugh died a long time ago."

"How old were you?" asked Lupin gently.

"Seven. Uncle Jack cried. Uncle Vernon said he was a sodding pansy and he wouldn't let me stay with him. He shouted and shouted until all the neighbours came out and they shouted at Uncle Jack too."

"Sirius!" said Lupin sharply.

"I'm going to get us something to drink," said Sirius in a strangled voice and then the door slammed.

"I didn't mean to make Sirius mad."

"He's not cross with you, Harry, don't worry."

"I'm not a sodding pansy."

"Of course you're not Harry but I know you miss your Uncles a great deal. It's okay to cry if you miss someone."

Given permission Harry suddenly couldn't stop the tears running down his face. Lupin's arms tightened around him and they started to rock slowly. Harry wanted to stop crying but somehow the tears just kept coming. His throat clogged up with sobs and he started to cough. Lupin didn't say anything; he just stroked Harry's back with one large hand. Harry snuggled closer and concentrated on the feeling of comfort.

The door opened and he heard Sirius say, "Here we go, three hot chocolates, with whipped cream."

Harry sniffed frantically and swiped at his eyes. Lupin handed him a tissue.

"Just a minute Sirius."

"No problem."

Harry blew his nose and scrubbed at his face. Lupin vanished the soggy tissue.

"You'll do. We'll have that hot chocolate now please Padfoot."

A large mug, festooned with cream and coco powder floated over Harry's head and hovered just in front of him. Harry carefully threaded his fingers through the handle. As he took its full weight, hot chocolate slopped over the sides, splattering on the carpet.

"Ooops."

"Don't worry about it," said Sirius, coming over to sit on the floor by Lupin's feet. "The carpet's self cleaning and if it can deal with blood it can cope with hot chocolate."

"Your family knows the most charming spells," said Lupin.

"Don't they just. If you're looking for something really fancy there's a disembowelment hex on the back door to the library that will strangle you with your own entrails."

"Urgh, gross," said Harry, he really didn't want to think about that too closely.

Lupin groaned, "Didn't we decide not to tell the children about the more vicious enchantments on this house of the damned?"

Sirius looked up, his grey eyes wide and surprised. "That's one of the minor ones Moony, honest, at least it kills you." He turned his attention to his hot chocolate, taking a sip and then licking off his ridiculous, whipped cream moustache.

Lupin sighed so heavily that Harry could feel him shudder.

"What?" asked Sirius.

"I - There's cream on your nose, Paddy, you look like a crumple-horned snorkack."

Sirius rubbed his hand across his nose and wiped his hand on his robe. Then he smiled up at Harry.

"So kiddo, you want us to look up your Uncle Jack for you. I bet he'd love to see you."

"Really?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Padfoot you can't guarantee that," warned Lupin.

"I think you'll find I can." Sirius sounded so firm it made Harry jump.

"You'll never change will you," Lupin scolded but his voice was warm with an emotion Harry couldn't quite place. "At least ask the poor bugger first."

Harry's godfather just grinned.


	2. The Major Secret

-

Harry was just about the happiest he could remembering being since he was seven. Sirius and Lupin had asked him lots of questions about Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack and, while talking about his Uncles was a precious indulgence all on its own, they actually thought they could find Uncle Jack.

Missing Uncle Hugh was bad but with Uncle Jack there was a nagging question that made Harry ache at night sometimes. He knew Uncle Jack couldn't keep him (Uncle Vernon wouldn't let him) but Harry had always wanted to know if Uncle Jack would have kept him if he could.

Now that he might get an answer he wasn't sure he actually wanted to know. But Sirius and Lupin seemed so sure that it would be yes that it gave Harry hope.

"After all," said Sirius, "Moony and I would do just about anything to keep you, I'm sure the same was true for this chap as well."

Lupin looked at his hands. "I wanted to take you that Halloween but I wasn't really in a state to look after a baby and Dumbledore promised to keep you safe and give you a normal life. Better than anything a homeless werewolf could offer you."

"You mean," said Sirius nastily, "The great Headmaster guilt-tripped you into doing exactly what he wanted, regardless of the consequences."

"Padfoot, I don't think we should be discussing this in front of Harry."

"It's all right," said Harry, "I know it's important I stay at the Dursleys so I don't put anyone else in danger."

"Oh no," said Lupin, "I didn't mean that at all Harry. I hate that you and Sirius ended up imprisoned to keep you safe. I almost wish I'd never heard of blood wards. There has to be a better way."

"It's okay," said Harry and Sirius at the same time. That just seemed to make Lupin look even more unhappy.

"No it's not," he said quietly.

"No brooding Moony," said Sirius briskly, "Any brooding has to be carried out by yours truly, it's part of the contract."

Lupin laughed. "I don't remember seeing that bit."

"No? It was right under my inaliable right to leave dirty socks lying around on the floor."

Lupin rolled his eyes but all he said was, "Nice try."

Sirius pouted and Harry giggled.

Before any of them could say anything more there was a banging on the door.

"Dumbledore's here," shouted Ron, before clattering back down the stairs.

"Come on Moony, let's go and see what our Lord and Master wants." Sirius reached up with one arm and Lupin clasped it securely, hauling him to his feet. Sirius left his hand in his and held out his free hand to Harry.

"Coming kiddo?"

Harry hesitated. It seemed a bit childish to hold hands but Sirius was holding Lupin's, so maybe it was okay. After considering it carefully he gave into temptation and took Sirius' hand in his. Sirius squeezed it quickly and then they followed Lupin from the room.

-

Before they even reached the kitchen they could hear Mrs Weasley shouting. Harry cringed and tried to retreat. Sirius turned to look at him,

"It's okay kiddo."

Harry wasn't convinced. Lupin opened the kitchen door and said,

"I'm sorry but do you think we can keep things down. We don't want to set off the portrait of Mrs Black again."

"Merlin no," said Sirius.

"I don't care about that horrid old woman," stormed Mrs Weasley.

Harry stayed in Sirius' shadow as he looked around the kitchen. Mrs Weasley stood in the centre of the room, fists on her hips. Dumbledore was smiling at her, hands out placatingly. Bill stood just behind his mother, and behind him the twins hovered, clearly uncertain what to do. Hermione, Ron and Ginny were watching everything wide-eyed from the corner of the kitchen.

"Mum calm down," said Bill. He placed on hand cautiously on his mother's shoulder. "Remus is quite right. When that portrait gets going I can barely think over the racket she makes."

"I will not calm down." She brushed away from her eldest son. "Headmaster I have been patient for fourteen years, I will be patient no longer." She raised one shaking fist. Her face was red with anger and the air seemed to crackle around her.

Harry recoiled and Sirius backed up a step. Curling his arm, he swept Harry protectively behind him. Peeking around Sirius' chest Harry saw Lupin glance back at them. Lupin's lips thinned and he stepped slightly in front of them.

"Molly," he said, his voice stern, "I understand you are upset, this must be a very trying time for you, but I would ask you to control your temper. You are alarming the children."

Mrs Weasley glared at him. "If I could get it through this man's thick skull any other way I would." She turned her fury back on Dumbledore. "I will not stand for this situation any longer. Arthur nearly _died_. He could still die; die before he gets to hold his son again. I won't let our son die without him knowing the truth. This Christmas _all_ our family will be together."

"Molly please," said Dumbledore, "As Remus has pointed out, now is a very stressful time, I don't think you should be making any sudden decisions. At least wait for Arthur to fully recover and talk it over with him."

"No. No I will not wait a minute longer to tell my son I love him. You will reverse the charms or I will do it myself."

"Perhaps we should start with an explanation."

"Explanation? How can I explain what I let you do to my son?" Mrs Weasley started to cry. Bill put his arm around her waist.

"Mum? What are you talking about? Which one of us?"

"Molly I do think things would be easier on you if Arthur were here."

Mrs Weasley wiped her streaming eyes. "You will tell them the truth right now."

Bill frowned at Dumbledore.

"I believe you should do as my mother asks, sir. What have you done to my family?" Fred and George came forward to stand either side of their mother and brother, jaws jutted pugnaciously. Hermione was hanging on to Ron and Ginny, trying to keep them away from the confrontation.

Dumbledore looked pensive and then he sighed. "Very well. I suppose the damage has already been done. Perhaps everybody should take a seat."

Lupin turned and started to urge Sirius and Harry out the room.

"We'll leave you to discuss the matter."

"No Remus. Harry needs to stay. This concerns you and Sirius too."

"Very well."

Harry had a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. He stuck close to his godfather as they shuffled further into the room. Lupin took a seat but Sirius remained standing. Dumbledore sat down at the head of the table and looked at the Weasleys and Hermione expectantly. Slowly they all seated themselves.

Mrs Weasley fixed her gaze on Harry.

"Harry dear, do sit down."

Harry didn't want to but Mrs Weasley's face was setting into stern lines. Lupin flashed him a reassuring smile and pulled one of the chairs nearer to him. Harry perched himself on the very edge. Sirius shifted until he stood close to both of them.

"Well come on, Headmaster," he demanded, "Let us have it."

Mrs Weasley didn't look happy but she stopped glaring at Harry. Telling himself to relax, Harry wriggled trying to find a comfortable position on the hard wooden chair. His godfather nudged him with his elbow and when he gazed up at him, ruffled his hair.

Dumbledore smiled. "Ah Sirius, straight to the heart of the matter, I would expect no less."

"Go on then. We already know that none of us are going to like it. Just hit us with it."

"I'd like to start with a few words to clarify matters."

Sirius groaned. Mrs Weasley was twitching with eagerness.

"Never fear, I'll be as brief as I can. To start with I'd like to take us back to the fall of Voldemort. Times were troubled and I knew the relief and celebrations were premature. Although Voldemort was no longer a current threat, there were still a considerable number of his followers remaining at liberty and things were a long way from safe. Consider the Longbottoms as one unfortunate example."

"We already know all this," Sirius interrupted

"I just wanted to make sure the children understood."

"Albus, Voldemort came back last year, I'm sure they understand all too well."

Harry flinched.

"Sorry kiddo."

"If I may continue," said Dumbledore. "Thank you. Now due to the, shall we say, _indisposition_ of the Potters' preferred guardians, I undertook responsibility for finding young Harry Potter a home."

"And a right fine job you did of it," grouched Sirius.

"I like to think so, yes." Dumbledore smiled serenely and Harry felt a violent flash of anger towards the man. Dumbledore continued,

"There were two main factors in selecting a family to raise the young Hero of the Wizarding World. Firstly it needed to be safe from Death Eater attacks. Secondly Harry needed to grow up without the pressures of his fame. Ideally he should also be brought up around magic within the confines of a loving home. Sadly these considerations seemed incompatible until I realised all that was needed was a little substitution."

"You couldn't have?" Lupin sounded horrified.

"Found the solution already Remus? I always thought you should have received a greater share of the credit for planning out the mischief the four of you got into at Hogwarts."

White-faced, Lupin just stared at the Headmaster.

"Yeah and I'm the thick one remember," grumbled Sirius, "Mind spelling it out for me?"

Dread was making Harry light-headed. He didn't want to know what Dumbledore had done. He wanted to jump to his feet and oblivate everybody so he'd never have to find out. As Dumbledore opened his mouth to speak, Harry braced both hands against the table and tensed up as if expecting a blow.

"I knew of a large family that was just scraping by. This family had a son only a few months older than Harry Potter. A couple of glamour charms and it was a simple matter to exchange one child for the other."

Harry's insides were twisting horribly inside him. The knowledge of what Dumbledore had done was on the edge of his consciousness but he didn't want to recognise it. It wasn't true, it _couldn't_ be true.

"By replacing Harry Potter with Ronald Weasley I accomplished all four of my objectives in one stroke. Harry Potter would grow up in heart of a loving family secure…"

Sirius cut him off with a roar of pure rage. "You abandoned my-" He stopped abruptly. Harry choked as his stomach rose up and lodged in his throat, because he wasn't Sirius' godson anymore.

"My, my… my _pup_," Sirius continued with a snap of his jaws, "You abandoned my pup to the _Dursleys_ for no reason at all." A low growl rumbled in his throat.

"He is not _your_ son," shouted Mrs Weasley.

Ron looked stunned, "Are you saying I'm Harry Bloody Potter?"

Dumbledore nodded, smiling.

Lupin leapt from his seat and grabbed Sirius around the waist, hauling him back from his dive across the table.

"Mum is this true?" demanded Bill, grabbing her arm.

"Mum!" wailed Ginny.

"Remus, let me go."

"Mum, is it true? Am I Harry Potter?"

Fred and George were both shouting but Harry couldn't distinguish what they were saying. He couldn't understand what anyone was saying. Individual words melded into a blur of sound. Sirius, teeth bared, was arguing fiercely with Lupin. Mrs Weasley was swamped under the shouts of her children. Dumbledore had his arms raised, appealing for quiet.

Harry covered his face with his hands as he tried to shut out the overwhelming noise and temper. Panting for breath, he tried to force himself to think. His mind had seized up. He couldn't understand. Everything he'd clung to since arriving at Hogwarts was gone. He wasn't Harry Potter. He wasn't Harry Potter. He wasn't…

"Oh God," he moaned, stumbling to his feet and tripping over his chair. Untangling himself, he turned around and saw everyone was staring at him.

Spinning on his toes he ran from the room. Racing through the house he slowed at the foot of the stairs. He thought longingly about the safety of his room. But it wasn't his room. Because he wasn't Harry Potter.

The hallway swirled around him making it hard for Harry to stay upright. Noise was following after him with heavy footsteps. He had to get away. He had to get somewhere he could _breathe_. Flinging the front door open, he fled into the dark street.


	3. Open Secret

Apologies for the abrupt halt this story came to. Hopefully things will be continuing more smoothly from now on.

-

Harry ran as fast as he could, desperate to out race his thoughts. His destination didn't matter as long as it was not here. Blind instinct drove him away from brightly lit Kings Cross and deeper into the shadowed suburban streets. Dodging the odd passer-by, he kept on running until the sharp stab of a stitch doubled him up. Clutching his side, he landed heavily on his right knee.

He yelped at the pain and his leg twisted, sending him crashing to the pavement. Curling into a ball, holding onto his knee and ribs, he lay there and gasped for breath. Gradually he recovered enough to push himself into a sitting position. He hung his head, blinking to clear his watery eyes.

A strangely delicate tapping made him look up. A huge, black dog, his claws clicking on the concrete, emerged from the half-light. Noticing he had Harry's attention, the dog stopped and whined softly. Harry smiled as he recognised the clear grey eyes of his_, oh god, no, Sirius wasn't his godfather anymore_.

Harry buried his face in his knees and tried not to cry.

Snuffles was whimpering now. Harry turned into the wall he was resting against. He just wanted to be left alone in his misery.

A cold wet nose pressed against his cheek and a sloppy tongue lapped across his ear.

Harry shoved at the huge dog.

"Leave me alone." He turned away and felt the hair on the back of his neck prickle at the static charge as Sirius transformed.

"Go away. I'm not your godson any more."

"Oh," said Sirius in a funny sounding voice. Harry squinted up through his lashes to see if Sirius looked angry. He didn't. Sirius' face was blank and he was sitting sort of huddled in on himself like a dog that had been kicked.

"I'm sorry," said Sirius, "I guess you don't want me around any longer."

"Don't you mean, _you_ don't want _me_ around any longer. You don't have to pretend. I'm a big boy, I understand," Harry snarled. He wasn't in the mood for playing polite games where everyone acted as if things were fine even though they weren't.

"Well that's more than I do," said Sirius. "Why don't you explain it to me?"

Harry gave an incensed little growl. "I am not your precious Harry Potter. I am not the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm not the son of James and Lily Potter. I don't look like my father, I don't have my mum's eyes. And I'm not your godson. So you don't have to pretend you care about me."

"Harry…"

"Nope, that's not my name."

Sirius's hands circled through the air, grabbing for words. Harry sneered because he couldn't start crying until his once godfather finally left him alone.

"Pup," said Sirius finally.

Harry gave him points for sounding honestly distressed but it wasn't enough.

"I am not your _pup_."

Sirius shook his head. "You are you know, whether you like it or not. My growling, spitting pup, hackles raised against the world."

"I am nothing like James Potter," challenged Harry.

"Well true," said Sirius with a smile, "But then that's always been the case."

"What!"

"It's why everyone makes such a fuss about you looking like Prongs, because they'd have to be as blind as Snape to think you act like him."

"Oh." Harry wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Sorry."

"What about flying? Everyone says my fath- I mean James Potter was a brilliant Quidditch player."

"Yes he was," said Lupin. Harry looked up to see his former Professor walking up to stand behind Sirius. "But you don't fly like him Harry, you never have. To be honest, you fly like Sirius."

"Really," said Harry doubtfully.

"Yes. James, you see, flew so he could play Quidditch. You and Sirius, Harry, play Quidditch so you can fly."

"What's the difference?"

"If Quidditch didn't exist, James would have played muggle football or cricket but for Sirius it's the flying he enjoys. Which is why he enchanted that ruddy motorcycle and had an absolute ball zooming around on Buckbeak."

Harry grinned as he remembered the thrill of hurtling through the air on Buckbeak's back. Sirius grinned back. Lupin clutched at his face with his hands.

"Dear Lord, why did I ever point that out to the two of you."

"Whatchya worrying 'bout Moony? You don't think I'd be as irresponsible as to help the Pup here enchant his own motorbike, do you?"

"That uplifting speech would have been so much more reassuring, Padfoot, if I hadn't just seen you wink at Harry."

"Moi? You're eyes are playing tricks on you. You didn't see anybody winking, did you kiddo?"

"No, no, not at all." Harry tried to keep a straight face as he shook his head violently.

"Sweet Merlin, but I've never seen such unbelievably pathetic attempts at pulling an innocent face."

Sirius cracked up and Harry couldn't help giggling a little. The affectionate teasing encouraged him to risk asking the question that he didn't really want answered. He took a deep breath, mentally crossed his fingers, and said,

"So, I mean, don't you love Ron now that he's your godson and Harry Potter?"

"Well…"

"See," snarled Harry, feeling irrationally betrayed.

"_Listen_ to me Pup. You asked the question, you should at least hear my answer."

"Fine." He folded his arms and glared sulkily at Sirius.

"Fine. First things first, we've always liked Ron. You do too remember, he's your best friend after all."

"So?"

"So, we still like Ron. And yes, it's nice he's our godson, and if he needed us of course we'd help, but he's got two parents. And his mother definitely disapproves of us, well me."

"You do yourself too much credit Padfoot, Molly disapproves of both of us, separately and together. You're just the one who had the most direct claim on Harry."

"Whatever. The fact is Ron doesn't need us the way Harry did. And I know now you're not Harry anymore you don't need us either. You've got a mother and a father, I understand. I can see that you don't need a broken down godfather."

Harry blinked and blurted. "Wait a moment you think _I_ don't want _you_."

"Of course. Isn't that what we're arguing about?"

"No, I thought, I thought you wouldn't want me now you know I'm not your best friend's son."

"Of course I want you. I've always wanted you. I mean, first I had to protect you because you were Prongs' son and I let him down so badly. But you were my godson from the moment I saw you creeping out of Privet Drive dragging all your belongings behind you. And then when I saw you flying." Sirius shook his head. "I just knew I had to get you a new broomstick."

Harry nodded, because nothing could compare to the gift of flight. Sirius cautiously crept a little closer and held out one hand. Harry accepted the hand and was pulled into a hug.

Lupin coughed from somewhere behind them.

"Be that as it may, Harry does, in fact, have parents. And his mother is undoubtedly worried about him, so we need to head back."

Harry's face fell. He didn't want to see Mrs Weasley, or Ron, or any of the Weasleys, but he wasn't sure why. After all this was what he had seen in the Mirror of Erised: a large, loving family. Finding out he was truly part of such a family should be a dream come true. So why did he want to stay out in the dark with Sirius and Remus? Why did the idea of confronting Mrs Weasley make his stomach curdle?

Sirius started to say something but Lupin shushed him.

"Come on Padfoot, get up."

"But-"

"But nothing. All else aside, we can hardly set up camp on a residential street."

"Don't see why not," said Sirius sullenly.

"Come on Paddy," Lupin coaxed, "We have to go back sometime, it might as well be now. And do you honestly want Dumbledore making our decisions for us?"

That galvanised Sirius. "I should think not. I don't think very much of his care of our Harry."

"Really? Don't you like the Weasleys?" said Harry, just stopping himself saying 'either'. He didn't want to admit to his sudden distaste for the Weasleys until he'd worked out why he had this strange aversion to them.

Sirius looked at him oddly. "What have the Weasleys got to do with anything? I'm talking about the almighty headmaster abandoning you to the Dursleys. There is no excuse for it. The blood wards business is clearly nonsense, not that I ever thought very much of his reasoning to begin with." He stood up and brushed off his jeans. "You are quite right as usual Moony. Who knows what he'd do to our Harry if we aren't there to stop him."

"Sirius," Lupin wrung his hands, "You have to remember Harry isn't ou-…. Oh what's the use."

"Moony?"

"It doesn't matter Sirius. It's too late any way."

"If you say so. Are you coming Harry?"

Harry stared at the hand that was being held out to him.

"Harry? Pup? You in there?"

"Am I really _your_ Harry? You weren't talking about Ron?"

"Of course not. Much as I hate to admit it Dumbledore, undoubtedly for his own reasons, looked out for Harry Potter quite well. What I will not stand for is his sacrificing our Harry to achieve his ends. Not again. So don't you worry about anything, Harry, Moony and I will sort things out. We're quite a negotiating team you know, if Moony can't win them over with reason, I just thump 'em 'til they see sense."

Harry gaped at the man who never reacted the way he expected him to.

If Harry told Uncle Vernon that he wasn't related to him (and that was a cheering thought, he wasn't Uncle Vernon's nephew anymore), he knew he'd have less than five minutes to leave Privet Drive before Vernon booted him and all his freakishness from the house.

He'd always known the Wizarding World loved the Boy Who Lived and not Harry. As soon as they realised Ron was Harry Potter, all that overwhelming hero worship would deluge his best friend. Harry felt slight guilty at finding that a cheerful thought but reminded himself Ron actually wanted the adulation.

Sirius, however, seemed to love him even more after finding out he wasn't Harry Potter. Nothing the man did made any sense. Maybe he was as mad as everyone said for not getting rid of Harry while he had the chance.

"Come on Harry," urged Sirius, "Look on the bright side, no more Dursleys. Though just say the word and Moony and I will go and explain the error of their ways to them, at length and in great detail."

"Sirius," scolded Lupin.

"No more Wizarding groupies. Though I reckon it's a shame they'll stop throwing themselves at you before you could take proper advantage of their offers."

"Sirius!"

"Yes Moony?" Sirius blinked innocently up at Lupin. Lupin made an abortive move towards him and then flashed a quick glance at Harry. Harry thought they would have kissed if Lupin hadn't remembered his presence. He couldn't have that.

"Hey it's all right, don't mind me." He grinned up at Sirius and Sirius smirked back.

"That's my godson. A man after my own heart." Reaching up he tugged Lupin down into a kiss. Harry smiled to see it and fiddled with his shoe laces to give them some privacy. They reminded him of Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack and he liked the feeling.

"Come on," said Sirius, holding his hand out to Harry, "We should get going."

"Do we have to?" Harry whined.

"Yep. And hey, I just thought, if you're not Harry Potter, we're no longer bound by our promise to Lily not to teach you how to be an Animagus until you're seventeen."

Harry's head shot up, "Really?"

"Really truly. Come on, we can get you started on the exercises straight away."

Harry jumped to his feet and grabbed hold of Sirius' hand.

"Is it true that you have no control over the animal you become?"

"Pretty much. In our experience anyway. Moony's really the one you need to talk to though. After we showed him what we'd done, the worrywart started an intensive study of Animagi to make sure we weren't going to run into problems later on."

"And a good thing I did too. Honestly Harry, I think they ignored anything that mentioned side effects."

"If we'd read everything about the side effects we'd never have done anything."

"There's a reason for that Sirius."

"Pah."

"But if Professor Lupin's read all about the side effects," said Harry, "I don't need to bother about that. I mean it's not like you guys had any problems."

Lupin coughed and spluttered. Sirius whacked him on the back, rather hard from what Harry could tell. He ignored them too excited about the idea of Animagus transformation.

"So that means I can get started straight away. What's the first exercise Sirius? How long did it take you? With you helping me, I bet I can manage it faster."

"Oh god," said Lupin, "Another one."

"Aww, you already knew that Moony."


	4. Realisations

I'd like to thank everybody for their reviews. Yes Ginny did have a crush on her brother and she isn't happy with the idea. Harry hasn't had time to think about it yet. I think he was only just starting to develop feelings for Ginny at this point in the books. Ginny will not be getting together with either Harry Potter in this story. Although Ron is not technically her brother it would still be far too like incest for my (and Ginny's) comfort.

-

-

Harry enjoyed the walk back. Sirius had started to describe the first exercise necessary to become an animagi, which Lupin had declared to be hopeless advanced and broken in to give Harry some easier preparatory work. Sirius had nodded amiably but he squeezed Harry's hand and winked. Harry had a feeling he'd be an animagus in record time. He bounced excitedly as he wondered what sort of animal he would become.

Then they turned into Grimmauld Place and immediately he felt his good spirits drop away. The dilapidated houses loomed threateningly over him and even the sky seemed blacker.

"Here we are," said Sirius stopping outside no. 12, "Home sweet home."

"Merlin and Morgana," swore Lupin quietly, "I hate this house."

"Me too," said Harry.

"Really?" said Sirius turning quickly to look at him.

"Absolutely. I mean it's more home than the Dursleys ever was and I love seeing you but..." he shrugged his shoulders.

"Well you have great taste. Come on, let's get inside."

Lupin muttered something under his breath.

As soon as the front door was open, they heard Mrs Weasley shouting.

"Ah," said Sirius, "Doesn't sound like we've missed too much. I think the record is stuck."

Reluctantly Harry followed the two men inside. He felt an almost physical revulsion at the idea of confronting Mrs Weasley.

"She is my -" he murmured to himself. The words stuck to his tongue and he suddenly felt very cold. Tugging his hand away from Sirius' hold, he wrapped both arms around himself.

Sirius looked back at him, his face anxious.

He bared his teeth as he forced his mouth into grin. Sirius hunched his shoulders and resumed trudging towards the kitchen. Setting his jaw, Harry forced himself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

As he appeared in the doorway, Mrs Weasley abruptly stopped shouting.

"Now everybody quiet. Here's Harry." She advanced towards him. "Harry darling, how are you?" she cooed.

He shied away.

"You can come here sweetheart. It's okay now, everybody knows the truth."

Harry backed up until he hit the wall. His breath was coming in quick gasps and his pulse rocketed. He didn't understand why, but he was more terrified than he had ever been before in his life.

Mrs Weasley scowled. "What did they say to you Harry? Don't you understand? I'm your mother."

Harry giggled nervously.

"Harry?"

"No. No you're not."

"Oh my darling son."

"No, no it's not true. I'm not, you're not. Do you hear me?" Harry shouted. "It's not true!"

"Pup?" called Sirius quietly. Harry almost sobbed with relief and reached desperately for his godfather.

Mrs Weasley turned on Sirius, "You stay away from him. He's not your godson anymore."

Harry moaned softly. He watched as Sirius backed away under the harsh words of the red-haired woman and whimpered when she turned her angry eyes on him.

"Harry stop this nonsense at once and come here. I am your mother."

"No you're not." Harry almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. "My mum loved me."

"Harry I do love you. I've waited so many years to tell you."

"No, no, no. You can't be my mother. My mum loved me, she died saving me. She wouldn't have left me. You can't be my mum. You understand? She loved me."

"Oh Harry. I'd never have let you go if I'd had the choice."

Harry stared at the red-haired woman. "You can't be my mother," he begged, "You just can't be." He shook his head in denial as one of the certainties his life was based on crumbled away in his hands.

"I am. And I love you oh so much."

Thick, strong arms swept him up into a suffocating embrace and Harry began to hyperventilate.

"Let him go you witless woman, he's about to faint," snapped a male voice Harry vaguely recognised as being safe. He tried to claw his way towards it. "Padfoot help me," it continued, "Get his head between his knees."

Suddenly hands were pulling him free and a soft voice was whispering,

"It's okay Pup. It's okay. I've got you now. Sssh, it will all be okay." In the distance Harry could hear shouting but he ignored it in favour of the gentle hand rubbing soothingly over his hair. He curled into the comforting embrace.

"My mum loved me," he confided, "She'd never have left me if she had any choice. Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack said my mum loved me. They wouldn't have lied."

There was a low rumbling growl but it sounded more protective than threatening and Harry recognised it now.

"Snuffles," he said pleased.

"Uh huh, it's me Pup. And you're coming with me and I'm getting you to bed. You need a snooze. Too many things have hit you too fast."

"Don't want to think about it," pleaded Harry.

"Well you don't have to. Plenty of time for that later. Don't you worry about anything, Snuffles will take of care of you."

He smiled softly. "I know."

"Good. Love you kiddo."

Harry relaxed and let the darkness take him.

-

When Harry woke up, he found he was tucked safely into Sirius' bed with Snuffles asleep at his feet. He was surprised to see it was dark out and he rolled over to check the time. It was two o'clock in the morning. For an instant he wondered what had happened and then it was came rushing back.

He shot up in bed, kicking at the blankets to get free. Snuffles lifted his head and whined before jumping to the floor.

Harry looked at the apologetic dog.

"So it's true then?"

Snuffles nodded his head sombrely, his grey eyes wide and miserable.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I reacted so badly. It's not I like didn't already know. I guess, I just, Uncle Hugh and Uncle Jack never met my fa- I mean James Potter but they saw Lily Potter several times. And they told me how she'd always talk about me and how proud she was of me and how she loved me. But I guess, as it turns out, it was never me she talked about."

Snuffles howled softly. Harry felt like howling too.

"I always knew my mum never wanted to leave me at the Dursleys. I always knew she wouldn't have left me if she'd had the choice. But it turns out I was wrong."

Snuffles put his paws on the bed and licked Harry's face. Harry wrapped his arms around the

dog's big neck and hid his face in it's shaggy fur.

"It wasn't until I saw her that it hit me, not only was I not Harry Potter, but I was also Ronald Weasley. That Mrs Weasley is actually my m-mother. It wasn't that my mum died, but that my m-mother didn't want me. Why didn't my mum want me?"

The fur clutched in Harry's hands slowly transformed into a dark robe and then Sirius was holding him securely.

"She wants you now," he said, though he didn't loosen his grip on Harry.

"She just left me with the Dursleys. She knew there was no reason for me to stay there and she just left me. She left me there, Sirius," Harry said quietly.

For some reason he didn't feel angry about Mrs Weasley abandoning him to the Dursleys. He wished he did, it would be better than the awful emptiness. He felt hollow and sick like when the Dursleys didn't feed him for a day or two.

"I'm sorry Harry. I'd have got you out of there sooner if I could. Please believe me."

Harry pulled back so he could see Sirius' face.

"Of course I believe you. You offered to let me live with you ten minutes after you met me. Why didn't she do that? What did I do wrong?"

Sirius didn't say anything, just hung his head and looked at Harry with large, sad eyes. Harry scrunched down so he could rest his head against Sirius' chest.

"Why didn't she want me? Why'd she let Dumbledore take me away?"

Sirius sighed, his breath ruffling across Harry's hair.

"You need to talk it over with Molly but Remus spoke to her after you passed out and I can give you a summary if you like?"

"Yes please."

"Okay then. The Weasleys were struggling financially when Prongs and Lily were murdered and Voldemort fell. Bill just starting Hogwarts and they were facing years of multiple school fees. The fight against Voldemort had stalled Arthur's career and they knew he'd have a long wait for promotion."

"She sold me." He felt almost dizzy with disbelief.

"Well Molly didn't put it that way, but fundamentally, yes. Things were just getting awkward when Dumbledore showed up on their doorstep with his devil's bargain. I don't mean to excuse them Harry, but you have to remember Dumbledore is dangerously persuasive."

"Would you have agreed?"

"Fuck no." Sirius tightened his grip on Harry, as if someone were about to drag him away by main force. "But the Weasley's have always been respectable. It would probably have killed them to request help from the Public Assistance Bureau or go to the Goblins.

"So when Dumbledore promised a golden future for their youngest son as the fabled Harry Potter and offered to pay them to look after the actual Harry Potter, as well as paying the school fees of their other children from the Potter vaults. Well I'm not saying they jumped at the chance, but apparently the whole deal was sown up in less than twenty-four hours."

Harry wanted to shout and scream and generally act like Dudley deprived of dessert but he didn't seem to have the energy.

"How could she do that?"

"I don't know Harry. You need to ask her. You'll spend the rest of your life wondering why she did it, might as well get your answers direct from the horse's mouth. You don't want to end up staring at her portrait, wondering if your mind is playing tricks or if that really is what she looked like."

Sirius' voice sounded strange and distant. Harry twisted his head so he could see his godfather's face. He was staring at the floor, grey eyes remote. Tentatively Harry reached out towards him. Sirius flinched as Harry's hand brushed against his cheek and then he smiled.

"Hey, it's okay kiddo. I haven't quite worked out how yet, but I will make it okay. I promise."

Harry smiled up at him. He didn't set much store by the promise. The last adult to promise that everything would be okay was Uncle Jack and he had been lying too. But Harry loved that Sirius thought he was worth the effort of making up reassuring lies.

-

There was a sharp triple rap on the door.

"Come in Moony," called Sirius.

Lupin opened the door but didn't actually enter the room.

"Are you all right?"

"I think so, Harry?"

"I'm fine." He pulled away from Sirius and got to his feet. "What's going on? Where is everybody? What happened?"

Lupin sighed and stepped through the doorway. "Dumbledore's gone back to Hogwarts. Bill's gone to Gringotts to use their international floo to speak to Charlie. We had to give Ron and Ginny Calming Solutions, they're in bed asleep now. Hermione's in bed too but I think she's still up reading. Fred and George have disappeared somewhere. Molly's in the kitchen cooking. She wants to see Harry as soon as he recovered."

Harry took a nervous step backwards.

"I'm sorry Harry, but I really think you should speak to her. Don't worry, I had a word with her…"

"_A word?_" said Sirius. "Moony you had a great many words with Mrs Weasley. I know because I could hear you from up here."

Lupin glared. "I simply explained matters to her in an exceptionally through manner."

"If you say so. But it sure sounded like someone loosing their temper to me."

Lupin blushed. "Maybe," he conceded, "But honestly, I don't know what the woman was thinking. She was acting as if everything could be fixed in an instant. She needed to understand that it will take time. She can't just expect our Harry to welcome her with open arms."

Harry stared as he realised Professor Lupin, who never shouted, had shouted at Mrs Weasley for him.

"So," Lupin continued, "I think we can risk going downstairs. And it might be better to have this conversation when we're not surrounded by Weasleys. I never realised how many of them there were until they all spoke at once."

"I'm a Weasley now," said Harry although the words felt as strange and sour as off milk to his tongue.

"Oh I'm sorry," Lupin apologised, "I forgot. Or not exactly forgot, but hadn't made the connection."

Harry bit his lip to stop himself saying that he didn't want to be a Weasley. It was stupid to complain about something that couldn't be changed and nobody ever listened to him anyway.

Sirius hugged him. "It's okay Pup. You'll always have us."

"Some people, Padfoot, would consider that a threat."

"Our Harry is not some people. Are you Harry?"

"Guess not."

"Of course not. Now let's go beard the dragon in her den."

"Sirius, that's Harry's mother you're talking about."

"No it's not," said Harry before he could stop himself.

"Kiddo?" asked Sirius anxiously.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I know it's true and everything, but it doesn't _feel_ true."

"It will take time," said Lupin. "They rearranged your whole life, naturally it will take time to adjust."

Harry didn't say anything but he didn't see how he could ever adjust.

Sirius sighed, "It will be okay, Harry. Now let's go before we start getting maudlin."

Obediently Harry followed his godfather out the room and down the stairs.


	5. Rationalisations

-

Damp warmth and the rich scent of baking curled out of the kitchen to greet them. Inside Mrs Weasley bustled around surrounded by piles of washing up and cooling racks heaped with cakes and biscuits.

She looked up from her mixing bowl as they trudged into the kitchen and beamed.

"Harry! I'm glad to see you're looking better. Would you like a cookie? Or a slice of cake?"

"Uh, no thank you Mrs Weasley, I'm not that hungry."

Mrs Weasley's face twitched and she started to say something. Lupin coughed loudly. Mrs Weasley glared at him and then smiled down at Harry.

"Would you like some tea, Harry dear?"

"No thank you Mrs Weasley."

Lupin stepped further into the room. "How about we all take a seat and I'll make us some hot chocolate." He pulled out a chair and gestured for Mrs Weasley to sit down.

"Oh very well," she said. Tucking her skirts under her she sat down. Sirius took the seat opposite her and pulled Harry in close to his side. Harry fidgeted nervously and looked hopefully at his godfather. Sirius sighed and turned to address Mrs Weasley,

"So Molly, Remus said you wanted to explain to Harry how this all came about."

"Oh yes. He needs to understand that we did it all for the best."

Sirius' arm clamped tightly around Harry and prevented his instinctive rush from the room.

"It was all so difficult. Everything happened in such a rush. I don't really know where to start."

"The beginning is always a good place," said Sirius.

Mrs Weasley glared at him.

"What? It is." He would have said more but Lupin bumped him with his hip as he walked past and Sirius fell silent.

Mrs Weasley pulled a handkerchief from her sleeve and rubbed it nervously between her fingers.

"It's all so hard to explain. We'd spent so long being frightened, it was such an enormous relief when Voldemort was killed. And then when Dumbledore told us about the orphaned Harry Potter, it seemed like it was our duty to take him in."

"Yes, yes," said Sirius, "I can see that. But what I don't understand is why our Harry had to be sent away."

"So he'd be safe of course."

Harry heard the click of Sirius' teeth as his mouth snapped shut.

"Molly," said Lupin, turning away from orchestrating the mugs with his wand, "You do realise that there is no blood connection between our Harry and the Dursleys?"

"Yes but Dumbledore explained that we had to act as if Ron was Harry to keep both boys safe. The Dursleys would keep him safe and then when he was eleven he would rejoin the Wizarding Word."

"If Dursleys were so safe," Harry burst out, "Why didn't Dumbledore send Ron, I mean the actual Harry Potter, to them instead."

"He explained all of that. He needed Harry Potter to grow up in the Wizarding World so he wouldn't reject it and choose to live as a Muggle."

"And what if I'd done that?"

"Of course you wouldn't Harry dear," she said complacently, "You're my son."

"You gave me away!"

"I didn't want to, but it was all for the best. You have to understand that."

"Best," said Harry scornfully. He wanted to say more but Lupin thrust a mug of hot chocolate right in front of his mouth. He reached up to shove it away but Lupin smiled at him. It was an annoyingly reasonable smile that seemed to invite a reasonable response. Harry found himself grinding his teeth and reluctantly accepting the mug.

"The best," said Mrs Weasley, "Being Harry Potter offered you so many opportunities. Far more than being the sixth Weasley. We couldn't even have afforded to send you to Hogwarts."

Lupin repeated his manoeuvre with the hot chocolate on Sirius. When Sirius finally took the mug, Lupin turned to Mrs Weasley.

"Molly you know that's not true. There are several institutions that offer tuition grants, I received one myself."

"Weasleys don't accept charity. We're better than that."

Sirius lent over and very carefully put his mug down by the foot of his chair. When he lifted his head he was smiling fixedly.

"Padfoot, if you say one word," warned Lupin.

Sirius kept smiling and remained silent but his arm around Harry was bunched and hard with tension. Harry glared at Mrs Weasley.

"What do you mean better? You gave me away!"

"It was for the best. Harry Potter got to grow up in the Wizarding World and our son received all the advantages of being Harry Potter."

"And you got your other children's school fees paid for you," snapped Sirius.

"Well yes, but as Dumbledore said, it wouldn't do for the Boy-Who-Lived's siblings to be uneducated. And if they hadn't gone to Hogwarts, it would have attracted attention when Ron did. But that's really all irrelevant. What you have to understand Harry is that we did for you. As Harry Potter you're wealthy and respected and important. How could I turn down such a chance for my son?"

"Easily," said Sirius, "How can you believe this stuff? Moony do us a favour and check Dumbledore didn't Confound them."

Lupin looked rather embarrassed.

"Already thought of it huh? That's my Moony always one step ahead."

"I try. And as far as I can tell there was no magical manipulation going on."

"Of course not," fussed Mrs Weasley, "The Headmaster explained everything to us. We were honoured he chose to entrust us with Harry Potter's safety."

"Moving on," said Lupin, coming to stand beside Harry and resting one hand on his shoulder, "What I want to know, and what I never got a straight answer for earlier, is how you could leave our Harry with the Dursleys? You knew the blood wards business was hokum, how could you let us keep sending him back there?"

Mrs Weasley looked down at her handkerchief. "It was hard but Dumbledore said that the Wizarding World was so stressful for him that he needed to spend time with the Muggles to recuperate and relax. He needed to get away from the pressures of being the Boy Who Lived and enjoy himself."

Harry's hands started to shake and he dropped his mug, spilling hot chocolate across the floor. Sirius shifted, pulling him tight against his chest so that he half sat on his lap and he curled gratefully into his godfather's protective arms.

"You talk to her Moony, I can't." Sirius sounded nearly desperate.

"Mrs Weasley," said Lupin in a calm, controlled voice that, if they were at Hogwarts, would have meant multiple detentions, "It is perfectly obvious that Harry dislikes, and is disliked by, his relatives. And you attempt to justify sending him there on the basis of 'enjoyment'?"

"You've been listening to the children. You were a Professor, you know how they exaggerate."

"Mrs Weasley, anybody with an ounce of empathy can see Harry is unhappy at the Dursleys."

"Nonsense," but she was looking down at her handkerchief and Harry couldn't quite interpret the expression on her face.

"She's lying," whispered Sirius, so softly that Harry wasn't sure anybody heard but him. "She knew, so why?" His voice trailed off and then he was cursing viciously.

"Pads, what's the matter?"

Sirius ignored Lupin. Tilting his head Harry could see his godfather's whole attention was fixed on Mrs Weasley.

"You knew," he accused, "You knew and you were _pleased_."

"Sirius that's a dreadful thing to say, of course she wasn't…" Lupin trailed off. Mrs Weasley's face was flushed and she was focused on twisting her handkerchief around her fingers.

"Molly?" Lupin sounded shocked. "Is it true? Were you pleased?"

"Of course not," she denied. "It was only natural that he couldn't bond properly with the Dursleys. Because he's _my_ son not theirs," she finished smugly.

Sirius growled. "You let our Harry…"

"Stop calling him that. He is not _your_ Harry, he's mine. My son. Finally my family is going to be complete. Harry and Ron will be another set of twins just like Fred and George."

Harry choked on a completely inappropriate giggle.

"Pup?" asked Sirius.

"It's not funny. It's just, none of us know who's Fred and who's George but at least they know which of them is which. But even I don't know if I'm Ron or Harry."

Sirius sniggered and then tried to pretend he hadn't. "Sorry Pup, you're right it's not funny."

Harry turned his head and attempted to glare at his godfather, but the grey eyes watching him were full of such devilry that he couldn't repress another giggle. Sirius snorted as he tried to swallow his own amusement. He sounded so like an insulted horse that Harry gurgled with delight, which made Sirius laugh, and then they were both away.

"It's not funny," sputtered Sirius.

"No," gasped Harry, "It's hilarious."

"Okay," said Lupin, "I think hysteria is setting in again. Maybe we should go to bed and try again tomorrow."

"No," said Mrs Weasley, "He has to…"

"Padfoot, why don't you take Harry up to bed while I talk to Mrs Weasley."

"No," she protested, "I don't understand what the fuss is about. Harry is already Ron's best friend. He already thinks of us as family. This just makes it official."

Harry abruptly stopped laughing. Clutching his aching stomach, he leaned weakly against his godfather.

"Mrs Weasley," said Lupin, "I really don't think things are going to be that simple."

"James Potter was my best friend," said Sirius fiercely, "And I adored his Mum and Dad. But if they were really my parents and they'd abandoned me to the Blacks, I'd never have spoken to them again."

Harry beamed at his godfather's support.

Lupin coughed, "Which is not necessarily the lesson we want Harry to learn, is it Padfoot?"

"Moony, I'm all for being reasonable and not making irrevocable decisions but there is a limit."

"This is all irrelevant," complained Mrs Weasley, "The Potters weren't your parents Sirius, so I don't see what that's got to do with anything. The fact is that he is my son and nothing will ever change that."

Harry stared the woman in front of him, she seemed like a caricature of the mother he'd always dreamed of.

"You gave me away," he protested quietly, "You left me with the Dursleys."

"I've explained all that, you had to stay with them. It was all for the best. Now, stop being difficult. Remember, I am your mother."

"Right," said Sirius, "This interview is over." Shoving his chair sharply backwards, he stood up. "Come on Harry."

"Stop right there. Harry, I forbid you from leaving with that man."

"He's my godfather."

"Mrs Weasley," said Lupin.

"I am his mother and he has to do as I say. Come here!" She held out her hand imperatively.

Harry bared his teeth.

Sirius straightened up, jerking his robes into place. He tilted his chin up and looked down his nose with eyes that had gone ice hard. Harry suddenly remembered that Sirius was pure-blooded.

"Mrs Weasley," Sirius' voice had slipped into a slow, arrogant drawl, "You are labouring under a misapprehension. No matter what you or Headmaster Dumbledore may claim, you have not established your veracity. No proof has been offered and, until such a time as you have demonstrated compelling evidence of your allegation to our lawyers, you have no right to make demands of our godson."

He cast a quick sideways glance at Lupin who nodded his head, folded his arms and came to stand half a step behind him. Sirius smiled grimly.

"Indeed," he continued, "Given the matter pertains to the inheritance of the Potter name and fortune, I believe it is only proper to seek a ruling from the Wizengamot."

"You can't," gasped Mrs Weasley, "The Headmaster said…"

"Headmaster Dumbledore appears to have said a great deal, however I am hard put to see why I should consider anything he says in the nature of Holy Writ. His execrable care of my godson alone casts his character in an extremely dubious light and lays him open to a suit for damages."

"He is not your godson."

"Should that prove to be the case, I can only express my astonishment that his proper guardians condoned his treatment instead of seeking recompense."

"We couldn't do anything. Dumbledore said we'd lose them both. At least this way we still had Ron. And Harry was starting to love us like a family, until _you_ came along. Everything would be alright if you'd just stayed rotting in Azkaban like you were supposed to."

The air fractured around them as every dish in the room shattered.


	6. An Old Secret

Hi, I'm deeply grateful for all the feedback. I've never had so much feedback before.

In answer to all the people who want to know how Harry can be Ron while still having the scar, parslemouth abilities etc. I do have a (IMO) reasonable and logical explanation for this (though I'm not sure it's worth the build up). I would have explained it earlier but the characters are too busy coping with the repercussions of Dumbledore's plan to worry about _how_ he pulled it off just yet. Though I give you only one guess what Hermione's researching at the moment.

Oh, and no it's not a double fake-out, Harry really is Ron and Ron really is Harry, if that makes sense.

-

-

An Old Secret

-

"Out," roared Sirius.

The room spun around dizzily as Harry was grabbed and thrown into Lupin's arms. Sirius bundled them out the room as the sink exploded and the fire roared up in the grate. Water geysered across the kitchen, splattering walls and sizzling in the flames.

As Sirius hurried them up the stairs they were followed by Mrs Weasley's shrieks of dismay and the hot hiss of steam.

A door slammed and Harry was abruptly dropped onto a bed. He bounced once and sat up, intending to demand to know what was going on.

Sirius wasn't even looking at him. His whole attention was focused on a white-faced Lupin.

"Moony, Moony you need to calm down. This blasted house reacts bloody strangely to wild magic and you're not even a Black."

Lupin was shaking like he had right before changing into a werewolf. Harry squeaked with fright and backed away to edge of the bed.

"Moony please."

"Did you hear what she said?" he demanded low and guttural.

"It doesn't matter. I'm here Moony. I'm here and I'm free. Everything's okay. I promise Moony, everything's okay."

Lupin took several deep breaths and the colour slowly returned to his face. His eyes scanned the room and Harry hunkered down trying to avoid his gaze. Fixing on the wardrobe, Lupin gently pushed Sirius to one side and held out his right fist, two fingers extended like a Muggle child's impression of a gun. Levelling his hand at the wardrobe he growled,

"_Pow, Zap_."

As Harry watched in amazement, the wardrobe collapsed noisily into a heap of woodchip. Lupin shook his hand as if it stung and smiled with satisfaction at the mess he had created.

"Well," said Sirius, "I was never fond of that monstrosity but you might have spared a thought for my clothes."

"It was that or the bed, and I prefer you in bed to in clothes."

"Moony!" Sirius went bright red.

"What?"

He flapped his hands in Harry's direction, "Innocent ears are listening. And Merlin, but I sound like James' Mum, what are you doing to me Pup?"

Lupin laughed out loud. "Sirius Black preaching propriety. I just wish Prongs was here to see it."

"Remus! Will you stop doing that. You're going to scare Harry half to death. He doesn't know how goofy you go after really loosing your temper."

"Ah," said Lupin and he suddenly looked almost ashamed. "Sorry Harry."

As Harry watched Lupin seemed to shrink in on himself and his teasing grin was overlaid with a smooth, calm smile. He realised he had seen beneath Lupin's Professor mask and he felt rather privileged.

"But it's okay though, isn't it Harry?" said Sirius, his voice an odd combination of stern and entreating.

"Course it is," said Harry firmly. His godfather wrapped his arm around his shoulders and grinned proudly down at him.

"And you, Pup, have joined the select few who know that Remus Lupin has a temper that's worse than mine."

"It is not," protested Remus.

"Independent adjudication, Moony."

"You bribed Prongs!"

"You were foolish enough not to. And Lily agreed too."

"She did not. She said we were as bad as each other."

"Then-" Sirius abruptly glanced at Harry and grinned, "Sorry kiddo. It's an old argument and Moony just won't admit he's lost. No Remus don't say anything more, we shouldn't argue in front of the children," he finished smugly.

Remus, judging by the glare, seemed to disagree. Before he could say anything though there was a knock and two identical red heads peeked around the door.

"Don't let us interrupt," said Fred or George.

"But it sounded like mayhem was occurring," said George or Fred.

"Without us!" The twin gave an offended sniff and pretended to wipe away a tear. "How could you!" Harry decided he was probably Fred when he pushed the door further open and bounced into the room ahead of his twin.

"I'm redecorating," said Sirius blandly.

The twins stared at what had been a wardrobe.

"Whatever you say," said Fred.

"But I wouldn't go down to the kitchen until Mum's recovered…"

"From your redecorating attempts."

"Because when we snuck past she was still…"

"Cursing you and your ancestors."

"She'd reached the tenth generation…"

"And it didn't sound like she'd be stopping…"

"Anytime soon."

Remus half-smiled. "It looks like you're in the dog house again Sirius."

"Oh very funny Moony."

"But it wasn't," Harry began and was cut off abruptly when Sirius wrapped his arm around his shoulders and clapped his hand over his mouth.

"So where did you two heathens sneak off to?" asked Remus. "We lost track of you after everything kicked off."

Fred and George shuffled until they stood shoulder to shoulder.

"We wanted to welcome…"

"Our new brother…"

"Properly."

"So I said to Gred, what's…"

"The one thing…"

"Our new brother wants most…"

"In all the world."

Harry felt a little queasy at the idea of the Weasley twins on the rampage for something they thought he wanted.

"Thanks guys, but you shouldn't have."

"Uh, uh," scolded Fred, wagging one finger at him. "How dare you doubt the brilliance of your brothers."

"So close your eyes…"

"And hold out your hands."

There was a militant sparkle in the twins' eyes so, unwilling to risk giving them time to think up something even more exotic, Harry reluctantly obeyed. He held out his hands palm up, screwed his eyes shut and cringingly turned his face away, bracing himself for impact. He trusted Sirius and Remus would protect him if it started exploding and would reverse anything too embarrassing.

"Oh ye of little faith."

Harry felt something long and fairly light being balanced on his hands.

"Okay then."

Cautiously Harry opened one eye. He saw only a long, thin parcel wrapped in brown paper.

"It's a broom," said Sirius flatly.

"My firebolt!" gasped Harry, clutching it to his chest, eyes flying to the twins for confirmation. They nodded, grinning widely.

"My firebolt." Harry shredded the wrapping, yanking his broom free. It looked undamaged but he checked it carefully, smoothing the bristles into perfect order and running his hands over the handle to feel the vibrant hum of the broom's enchantments. He beamed at the twins,

"Thank you so much."

"Err," said Remus, "Not to be picky or anything, but how exactly does giving Harry his broom count as a present?"

"They got back from Umbridge for me. Guys I don't know how you managed it, but thank you. It's a great present."

"Why exactly did she have your broom?"

"She confiscated it for fighting with Malfoy. Not that she confiscated his of course. Harpy," he growled under his breath, reflexively rubbing at the back of his hand.

"Don't worry Harry," said one of the twins.

"The other half of your present…"

"Is waiting for you at Hogwarts…"

"There's no way the…"

"Umbitch will be able to undo…"

"Our jinx…

"Before term starts."

"What did you do?" asked Harry suspiciously.

"Come along to our room…" They each grabbed one of Harry's arms and began to tow him towards the door.

"Away from adult ears."

"I resent that you know," Sirius called after them.

"Sorry Sirius…"

"We never meant to imply you where…"

"In any way shape or form…"

"An adult."

"I should think so too," said Sirius, sticking his nose in the air. The twins both laughed and dragged Harry out the room shutting the door behind them. Harry let them haul him along to the stairs before tugging free.

"Come on you two. Confess. What did you do?"

"We'd tell you…"

"But we don't want to…"

"Ruin the surprise."

"Right," said Harry, "Thank you. I think."

"Oh you'll thank us, brother of ours."

"We always did think you…"

"Were a black-haired Weasley."

"It's just more official now."

Harry ducked his head so he could avoid their bright, inquisitive eyes.

"Thanks," he mumbled. He was too uncertain of the reasons for the reversion of his feeling towards the Weasley family to attempt to explain them to Fred and George.

"Whatever happens with the rest of the family…"

"You always were…"

"And always will be…"

"Our little Harrykins."

And then Harry was fighting off two pairs of hands determined to leave his hair permanently ruffled. When he'd been thoroughly hugged and patted they let him go.

"One more thing…"

"The adults seem to forget…"

"It's your future they're discussing…"

"So keep one of these with you…"

"So at least you know…"

"What they're saying."

Each twin gave him an Extendable Ear.

"Thank you both. I really appreciate all this. You're good friends."

The twins sighed and exchanged glances. Then they both slapped Harry on the back.

"Of course we are."

"So if you need anything…"

"Just let us know."

"I will, thanks again." Harry gave them a quick wave.

"Goodnight…"

"Harry."

"Night guys." Harry hurried back towards Sirius' room. As he drew closer he slowed down and fingered the Extendable Ear in his pocket. He trusted Sirius, he really did, but the temptation to know exactly what Sirius and Remus were saying was nearly irresistible.

He moved down the corridor to a shadowy corner and activated the Extendable Ear. For a second he thought it wasn't working because all he could hear was a faint shuffling, then he caught Sirius' voice. His godfather sounded quietly exasperated.

"Will you calm down Moony. It's over and done with. It doesn't matter anymore."

"It does matter. You were in that dreadful place for _twelve years_. Twelve years Sirius."

"I know Moony. I was there remember."

"So why aren't you separating a few heads from bodies?"

"Because it won't change anything."

"Since when did you become the logical one?"

"I've always been the logical one. Dumbledore needed me out of the way so I wouldn't interfere with his plans for Harry. I just gave him the perfect opportunity with my wretched temper."

"And none of the Order bothered to look too closely because you were _inconvenient_."

"Why should they? Hell Moony, I've always been inconvenient. Inconvenient for my family, inconvenient for Dumbledore, inconvenient for the Order… inconvenient for you."

"You are not inconvenient for me," said Remus sounding rather strangled.

"Sure I am. Think how much happier you'd be if..."

"Padfoot if you continue that nonsensical train of thought I will send you to Pomfrey for a wit-restoring potion."

"Yeuch."

"Exactly. Oh Pads, I am so sorry I believed Dumbledore. I should never have let him ship me out of the country. I should have insisted on seeing you. I should have bloody _noticed_ you never had a trial." There was a hollow thump of a fist hitting a wall and when Remus spoke again he sounded very tired. "Hell, I should never have believed you were guilty in the first place."

"Don't be sorry. I'm glad you thought I was guilty. I'm not sure I could have borne it if you'd wanted me out of the way with the rest of them. And heh, first time you and Snape ever agreed on anything."

"Padfoot please don't."

"Oh come on Moony, it is funny. Besides, if you hadn't fallen for the old man's lies you would have ended up in the cell next to mine. And I'm so glad you didn't."

"I'm not," said Remus softly.

"Now you're the one being nonsensical."

There was the sound of cloth rustling and then the gentle exchange of kisses.

-

Harry recovered himself enough to yank at the Extendable Ear and stop eavesdropping but he couldn't quite get his legs working. He could hardly believe what he'd heard; his brain couldn't process it and move at the same time.

He was still sitting there, clutching his firebolt, when Hermione found him some time later.


	7. Repercussions

Repercussions

-

"Hey Harry."

He looked up and smiled at her, "Hey Hermione."

"Not that I should be calling you Harry anymore. But I can't really think of you as Ron. I guess we could use middle names."

"I'm not sure calling me James would make it any less confusing."

"No silly, you'd be Bilius."

That roused Harry from his stupor. "Oh no, we are not using middle names. I am not going to spend the rest of my life being called Bilius."

"It was only an idea. Anyway I came to find you to get you to come and talk to Ron. He just woke up and he's still a bit freaked by the whole thing."

"I'm still a bit freaked by the whole thing."

"Yes you looked rather stunned just now. I had to call your name twice before you heard me."

"Sorry. I overheard…" Harry glanced around and dragged Hermione further down the corridor and spoke quietly. "I overheard Sirius and Remus talking. They were saying that Dumbledore _knew_ Sirius was innocent. Back when he was sent to Azkaban I mean."

Hermione nodded. "That makes sense."

"What do…" Harry shouted before hurriedly lowering his voice to a harsh whisper, "What do you mean it makes sense?"

"Well I always thought it was a bit funny, Sirius not getting a trial. People usually only get sent to jail without trial because whoever's in charge doesn't think they can get a conviction. Now that can be because of lack of evidence, but there was lots of evidence against Sirius; or because the prisoner is innocent."

"But that's outrageous. I can't believe it."

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "Do you see Dumbledore rushing around trying to get Sirius a trial now?"

"But we're waiting until we catch Pettigrew."

She laughed and patted Harry on the shoulder. "If you say so. There's Vertiaserum and Pensieves and Legilimency and who knows what other magical tricks, you, me, Professor Lupin, the Boy Who Lived and Sirius of course, but we couldn't possibly have a trial. Not enough evidence clearly."

"But, but, it's not fair."

"No it's not. But Sirius is safe in Grimmauld Place, he just has to be patient."

"Patient!" exploded Harry, giving up on being quiet since everybody appeared to know all about it already.

"Yes patient," said Hermione soothingly. "Look, I'm not saying Dumbledore doesn't want Sirius to have a trial but unfortunately it's well down on the list of priorities."

"Priorities?"

"Defeating Voldemort, obviously. It has to come first, you know that.'"

"Right, my mistake." Not wanting to incinerate Hermione with his glare, Harry glowered at the floor.

"Don't be like that Harry. I know it's not fair but there's nothing we can do about it. And Sirius understands, doesn't he? He's not pushing for a trial, is he? He doesn't need you to fight his battles for him."

Harry tilted his head to one side and considered that.

"Yes he does," he said quietly.

Hermione stopped what she was saying and looked at him.

"Sorry Harry, what was that?"

"Nothing," he said shortly. "What was it you wanted me to do again?"

"Come and talk to Ron with me." Hermione stopped her determined stride and turned back to him. "By the way, where'd the broom come from?"

Harry grinned, "It's my firebolt. Fred and George got it back for me as a sort of welcome to the family present."

Hermione's face contorted in a combination of disapproval and satisfaction. Her mouth twitched but she didn't say anything. Harry knew she was caught between reflexive respect for authority and personal dislike of Umbridge. If he had the energy he'd make her squirm but the effort was too much for him at the moment.

"So have you got any sleep yet?" he asked instead.

She shook her head, "No I've been doing some research."

"Find anything interesting?"

"I've been trying to work out how Dumbledore did it."

"Did what?"

"Swapped the babies over."

"Oh." Harry had been hoping to talk about something other than his personal situation.

"Yes." Hermione's enthusiasm for intellectual puzzles lit up her whole face. "I mean obviously he must have used some sort of disguising charm on you both. But there has to be more to it than that. Because you're the one with the scar and the Voldemort visions and the parseltongue but apparently Ron is the Boy Who Lived. It doesn't make any sense."

"And Dumbledore said it was my mother's, I mean Lily's protection that saved me from Voldemort when he went after the Philosopher's stone. Maybe Dumbledore and Mrs Weasley are lying." As much as Harry would like them to be lying he didn't think he could take his world inverting on its axis again if they were.

"No," said Hermione briskly, "I think he was lying then. I don't see anything for them to gain from lying now. And really, when you think about it, it was a genius idea."

"WHAT!"

Hermione blushed. "I mean obviously it wasn't a very nice plan… but looking at it logically it was brilliant. Harry Potter grew up hidden away in perfect safety. And, when Voldemort resurrected himself he stole _your_ blood, not R- the Boy Who Lived's. Think how much weaker that makes him."

Harry remembered Dumbledore's satisfaction when he'd learned that little fact and felt rather sick. Hermione kept burbling on about how much safer and anonymous Ron had been and finally Harry snapped.

"But I wasn't safer. All that safety was because I was in danger."

"Yes but Harry, Ron's the Boy Who Lived. Dumbledore had to protect him."

Harry wished he had an argument that didn't leave him sounding horribly selfish.

"And you can't say anything like that to Ron, you'll make him feel awfully guilty. It's not his fault. He's as stunned as you are. He's just discovered the people who he always believed are his family, aren't."

"Well I've just discovered the Weasleys gave me away, for money."

Hermione ground to a halt and bit at her bottom lip. "I know and I'm sorry Harry." She took his free hand in both of hers. "I'm sorry I haven't been thinking so much about your side of things. Ron's so distraught, I guess I was thinking that his loss is your gain."

"He's welcome to them."

"Don't say that Harry," she coaxed, "They're still your family."

"Hermione, they left me with the Dursleys."

She bowed her head briefly but when she looked up the determined glint was back in her eye. "But what about your brothers? Bill and Charlie are nice. I know you like the Twins. And there's Ron of course. Oh damn, no there isn't." She slapped at her forehead with the heel of her hand. "This is so confusing."

"How do you think I feel?"

"That's why you should come and talk to Ron. He knows exactly what you're going through. Come on. We can deal with this together."

Harry allowed Hermione's enthusiasm to sweep him along. She was right, it wasn't Ron's fault. He'd had the rug yanked out from under his feet just like Harry had. They'd dealt with four years of Hogwarts together, they could deal with this.

He followed Hermione down the corridor to the room he shared with Ron. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door.

"Hey mate," he began, before stopping sharply.

Ron was sitting beside Harry's trunk paging through his treasured photograph album.

"What are you doing?" demanded Harry furiously.

Ron flushed guiltily. "I was just looking."

"Well don't." Harry made a grab for his album. Ron snatched it away.

"I can look if I want to, after all, it's mine now."

"What the hell!"

"Well it is, isn't it?" said Ron defensively, scrambling to his feet.

"No," snapped Harry but his outstretched hand curled back before it could touch the album and he pulled his arm tight against his chest.

"It is so." Ron's head jutted forward aggressively. "I'm Harry Potter. So this is my album. Of my parents."

Harry retreated two steps from Ron's livid face.

"And the Invisibility Cloak is mine too." Ron stalked towards him belligerently.

"It is not," protested Harry, shying away from his enraged friend, "Dumbledore gave it to me."

"He gave it to _Harry Potter _and I'm Harry Potter. My father left it with Dumbledore to give to me. So it's mine now."

Harry took another step backwards.

"And that firebolt is mine." Ron's hand reached out towards his precious broom. Harry yanked it back.

"It is not yours," he said hotly, "It's mine, Sirius gave it to me."

"Well Sirius is my godfather now, so it's my broom."

"Sirius gave it to me." Harry took half a step forwards, turning slightly to put his body between Ron and the firebolt. "It's my broom."

"No it's not," snarled Ron, "Sirius bought that broom for his godson and I'm his godson, so it's my broom."

"Sirius bought it for me. I'm his Harry, it's my broom."

"Stop it!" shrieked Hermione, "Stop it both you."

"Give me my broom."

"It's not yours."

"Stop it! Oh please stop fighting."

"Just as soon as Weasley here gives me my broom," said Ron as he smugly advanced on Harry.

"I am not a Weasley!" roared Harry.

"What does a broom matter anyway," wailed Hermione, "You can just buy another one."

"It's my broom," Harry gritted out around a throat swollen with a mixture of boiling anger and furious tears, "Sirius gave it to _me_."

"Children!" Mrs Weasley's voice made all three of them jerk to a halt and turn towards the door. "What on earth is all this racket all about? You'll wake Ginny at this rate. Now whatever is the matter?"

All three of them started to speak.

"Quieten down," said Mrs Weasley, "One at a time please."

"Mum," complained Ron, "Harry won't give me my broom."

"It is not your broom," hissed Harry. He gripped the handle tightly in his sweaty hands, determined not to give it up. With gasp of relief he saw Remus appear behind Mrs Weasley in the door.

"Dear me," said Remus, "Whatever is going on here? Excuse me Mrs Weasley, can Sirius and I come through?"

Mrs Weasley looked irritated but she moved further into the room. Remus and Sirius slid in behind her. Harry ran towards them. Sirius opened his arms and caught him.

"Kiddo? What's wrong?"

Harry's throat locked down. He didn't know what to say. What if Sirius agreed Ron should have his broom.

Sirius dropped down onto his haunches so he could look up into Harry's face.

"Pup? It's okay, you can tell me."

Harry clutched at Sirius' robe with his free hand but still couldn't say anything. He could hear Ron whining,

"M-um."

"Yes dear."

"Tell Harry he has to give me my broom."

"But," began Mrs Weasley.

"What," shouted Sirius at the same moment, coming to his feet and spinning around so he stood beside Harry.

"Well it's my broom by rights, isn't it," said Ron sulkily. "You bought for it for your godson, and that's me."

Harry started to shake as he waited for Sirius' reply.

"I bought it for _Harry_," said Sirius.

"But I'm Harry now," said Ron.

"I bought it for _our_ Harry," said Sirius, putting one hand on Harry's shoulder for emphasis. "My Pup," he said proudly, smiling down at Harry, who smiled timidly back.

"That's not fair. I'm your godson. I should have the broom."

Sirius sighed, "Yes you're my godson and I would love to take you broom shopping, but this broom is Harry's, _our_ Harry's," he stressed wrapping his arm firmly around Harry's shoulders. Harry sank into the embrace, grateful for the support for his wobbly knees.

"But I'm supposed to be your Harry. Mum tell them." He tugged on Mrs Weasley's arm.

"I think," said Remus calmly, "That we are all a little bit het up and irrational tonight. Things will look much better tomorrow. With that in mind I think we'll retire to try and get some sleep for what's left of the night. Come along Sirius, Harry."


	8. Rebound

-

"No," said Mrs Weasley, "Harry isn't spending the night with you _degenerates_. It would be immoral of me to allow something so _inappropriate_." An ugly, malicious twist to her voice made the words sting.

Sirius let go of Harry so fast that he staggered from the sudden loss of support. Remus steadied him, while Harry grasped after Sirius.

"I don't like your tone or your insinuation," said Remus.

"Snuffles," Harry called plaintively not understanding why Sirius had sprung away from him as if he were red hot.

Sirius just stood there looking wretched and furious.

"Not so smug now, are you?" gloated Mrs Weasley. "Didn't want your precious Harry finding out you're a couple of sodomites? Well he knows now. So come on away from them Harry dear," she held out her hand.

After several seconds bewilderment, Harry had finally caught up with the conversation. Mrs Weasley thought he would abandon Sirius and Remus because they were queer. The idea made him snort with laughter.

"Harry," said Mrs Weasley, "I know it's an unpleasant thing to discover, but it's okay, you don't have to stay with them."

"Why would I care about them being queer?" he demanded.

"Harry dear," Mrs Weasley wrung her hands anxiously, "I don't think you quite understand…"

"Oh I understand perfectly," Harry yelled back. His uncertainty of the last twelve hours vanished, swamped by a fury so intense he found it hard to breath. Actually he was faintly surprised at how much anger surged up inside him now that it had a focus.

"You can take your oh so touching concern and shove it. Where was it ten years ago when it might have been useful? Or back when I was seven? Or when your sons' rescued me from my locked bedroom?

"My being shut up under the stairs didn't bother you. My being half starved didn't bother you. But now, _now_ you're worried about me. Worried I might get, what, _contaminated_. Too late for that I'm afraid. I'm thoroughly and utterly contaminated, so I'll take myself off before I infect Ron."

"Harry!" gasped Mrs Weasley.

Harry ignored her, turning sharply on his heel and storming from the room. He stomped furiously up the stairs to the next half landing, whirled around and slammed his fist into the wall. It didn't make him feel any better but it hurt too much to do again. Instead he hugged his firebolt and wished he could go flying, far above the ground in the pale sky where he was truly free.

He heard the door open and footsteps leaving the room so he moved to one side, out of their line of sight. He had every intention of avoiding the Weasleys for as long as possible.

"Well that went well," said Sirius.

"That's what I like about you Padfoot, always looking on the bright side."

"Yeah. I guess as an inconvenient sodomite, I was lucky not to get lynched."

"Don't be ridiculous. If you ended up dead that obscenely large Black fortune would end up in Lestrange's hands and Malfoy's pockets. The man would have ten times the influence with that much more money behind him."

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that. Hey look Moony, something good came of being a Black."

"That and your pretty face."

"Moo-ny," scolded Sirius.

"Yes?" said Remus brightly.

Deciding things were about to get slushy, Harry scuffed his feet loudly on the stairs.

"Who's there?" called Remus.

"Is that you Harry?"

Harry tromped down the stairs.

"Are you all right kiddo?" asked Sirius.

He shrugged his shoulders. Sirius stretched out a hand towards him but let it drop back to his side.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he said awkwardly.

Harry chewed on his lower lip. "I'm sorry," he burst out.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, for saying all that stuff about contaminated. I don't believe it or anything," he added hastily. "Uncle Vernon wouldn't let Uncle Hugh touch Dudley because he'd contaminate him and it always made Uncle Hugh really sad. I don't want you to be sad."

"Oh Harry," Sirius hugged him tightly, "I'm not sad. Or well, I am a bit, but not because of you."

"I hate to say it," said Remus, "But I really believe we should go back to our room. There's no point in offering blatant provocation."

"You think I care what that woman thinks?" sneered Sirius.

"No but I think you care about not placing Harry in the middle of an extremely unpleasant argument."

He sighed heavily, "Yeah, you'd be right. Come on Harry."

As soon as the door was closed, Sirius sighed and dropped down to sit on the bed.

"I thought she knew us better than that."

"Well," said Remus, "While I don't wish to defend her in anyway, I don't think she genuinely believes we'd hurt Harry. She just wants Harry back and doesn't care how dirty she has to fight to get him. You were reading off the wrong script, Harry, you were supposed to spring away from us in horror and foreswear our company forever."

"Hah," said Harry eloquently.

"Doesn't mean we have to like it," grumbled Sirius,

"Of course not. It was an unconscionable tactic that, had it succeeded, would only have hurt Harry more."

"Harpy. The only good thing is that she didn't bring up the fact that you're a werewolf. Because then I'd have to kill her and things would get messy."

"Sirius, I am a werewolf, I don't mind when somebody points it out."

"Tell that to someone who doesn't know you, Moony mine."

Remus smiled and shook his head, "Me too. And you cannot kill Molly Weasley when she brings it up. All else aside she's Harry's mother."

"She is not," said Harry.

"Harry…" said Remus gently.

"She isn't. She's Ron's mother and I'm not Ron. I'm not anybody."

"You're our Harry," said Sirius firmly. "Ron being my godson can't change that. I don't think anything could. Unless your father turns out to be Snape of course, then you'll be out the door before you have chance to turn round."

The broad smile on Sirius' face suggested he found this to be an unlikely contingency. Harry smiled back but his stomach felt a bit funny at the idea there was something that would make Sirius stop caring about him.

"Sirius," protested Remus laughing, "You can't say things like that, Harry will think you're serious."

"I am S…"

"Do not even go there."

"Oh all right. You're safe anyway Pup, not even being Snape's son would stop you being our Harry." Sirius stood up, crossing the room to ruffle his hair. Harry relaxed, feeling slightly foolish for being so relieved.

Sirius pulled back suddenly, looking comically anxious, "Provided you agreed to wash your hair regularly," he checked.

Now certain he was being teased, Harry giggled, "Okay," said he said as soberly as he could manage, "I faithfully promise that, if I turn out to be a Snape, I'll wash my hair twice a day."

Sirius gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and pretended to mop his brow. "That's all right then. Seriously Pup, and I can too be serious," he turned his head to stick his tongue out at Remus,.

"Of course you can be," said Remus kindly, as if he was talking to a five year old.

"Seriously," Sirius tried again, "You mean the world to me and Remus and we'd never want to upset you or make you uncomfortable."

Not sure what Sirius was getting at, Harry just nodded blankly.

Remus sighed, "What Sirius is trying to say is that Mrs Weasley felt you might find the fact Sirius and I were in a relationship to be awkward or… or embarrassing."

"Oh no," said Harry. "I mean you're not going to," he waved on hand in the air helplessly, "In front of me," his eyes widened, "Are you?"

"No, I can faithfully promise that we'll never do that."

"Okay then." Harry shrugged his shoulders. He really didn't understand why all the adults were getting uptight.

"All right," said Remus, "Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a very long day so we'd better get some sleep while we can. I'm sure everything will look much better after in the morning."

"It can hardly get much worse," muttered Sirius. Remus serenely ignored the interruption and continued.

"Today has been rather stressful. So Harry, I know it's difficult, but I wouldn't place too much importance on anything Ron said in the heat of the moment."

"He's not having my broom."

"No he won't," said Remus at he same moment Sirius said,

"That broom is yours."

"He took my Invisibility Cloak," said Harry, not sure if he was complaining or just looking for sympathy.

"Oh Kiddo, I'm sorry," said Sirius, "But I suppose since it was James', technically speaking it is Ron's now."

"He took my photograph album."

"There he was wrong," said Remus, "Hagrid gave you that album, didn't he?"

"Yes. But I guess Ron deserves it. After all they're not my parents are they? They're his." Harry's head drooped as he was filled with an aching sense of loss.

"Pup?" said Sirius gently as he stole one arm around Harry's shoulders.

"I don't mind about the album really," he said, "And I know it's silly because I can never have even met them… But I miss Mum and Dad. I mean Lily and James. I always sort of thought of them looking down on me and maybe, maybe being proud of me." Harry paused to take a shuddering breath.

"And now they're not there anymore," he finished painfully.

Sirius made a low distressed sound and swept him up into a hug so tight it was as if he was trying to squash all the sadness out of him.

"Padfoot let the poor boy breath."

Harry whimpered as the arms about him loosened.

"It's okay Pup," he whispered. "I won't let you go." They shuffled across the floor and then Harry was sitting beside Sirius on his bed.

"It's okay," Sirius promised. "We'll make it okay. Somehow. Moony?" he appealed.

"Well," Remus mused. Harry and Sirius watched him expectantly.

"Well," he said again, "If Sirius was your Dad, Harry."

Hearing the most secret wish of his heart spoken aloud, Harry snuck a hopeful glance up at Sirius to see how he was reacting, only to find Sirius was gazing wistfully down at him.

Harry smiled tentatively. Sirius' eyes brightened and he smiled cautiously back. Harry could feel his smile broadening with incredulous joy as Sirius' smile grew in strength until his whole face was lit up with its force.

"My Pup," he said with conviction, and for the first time Harry realised Sirius was really saying son.

"Your Pup," he agreed and he hugged him tightly around the middle, hiding his face against his _Dad's_ side. Sirius dropped a kiss on the top of his head and hugged him back.

"So Moony," he said sounding brilliantly happy, "If I was Harry's Dad," he briefly squeezed Harry even closer, "What then?"

Harry risked a fleeting look and saw that Remus was sitting as quietly as Professor Lupin always did but somehow managed to look thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Well then, obviously James would be his godfather."

"What?"

"I am right, aren't I? Would you choose anybody else as godfather for your son."

"No, probably not," said Sirius, sounding apologetic.

"It's all right Padfoot. And you'd have Lily as godmother wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

"And you think a little thing like being dead would stop Prongs being godfather to your son?"

"No," Sirius huffed a laugh, "Not Prongs. Or Lily for that matter."

"There you are then. Somewhere James and Lily are looking down on us, laughing their arses off about you becoming a father just in time for teenage hormones to kick in."

"Merlin Remus, did you have to say that." But his grip on Harry didn't slacken.

"Would they honestly be my godparents?" he asked, not quite sure he could believe.

"Oh yes Harry," said Remus, "There's no way James and Lily would _let_ anyone else be godparents to Sirius' son."

"And they'd adore you, you know," said Sirius, "Completely and utterly. And they'd be so very proud of you."

"Truly."

"Absolutely."


	9. Recuperation

Recuperation

-

"We can prove it to you, if you like," said Remus.

"We can?" said Sirius blankly, "How?"

"You could summon James, or a reasonable facsimile there of."

Sirius went completely rigid. "Remus, I haven't cast a patronus charm in years."

"Then a bit of practice would do you good."

"Remus, it probably won't work."

"You won't know until you try."

"Remus," he pleaded.

"Unless you want to disappoint Harry."

Harry winced at the tortured glance Sirius shot him. "I could…" he started but was silenced by a fierce glare from the normally even-tempered Professor

"Alright," said Sirius climbing to his feet, reluctance in every line of him.

"You don't have to," said Harry.

"Remus stop glowering at Harry, I won't back out. Besides, you're right, I should find out if I can manage it or not before someone's life depends on it."

"It's not _someone_ I'm worried about. The Dementors are after _you_."

"Right Moony, that cheerful thought will really help."

"Sorry," said Remus, not looking particularly apologetic.

Sirius huffed at him, glanced at Harry and then drew his wand.

"_Expecto Patronum."_

There was a soft puff of silver smoke and then nothing.

"Try again Padfoot, remember Harry."

"_Expecto Patronum,"_ he said again, more determined this time.

The sliver smoke hung heavily in the air, Sirius quickly cast the spell again and the smoke began to take shape. Suddenly the silvery form of James Potter stood there.

"James!" gasped Sirius. Harry couldn't decided if Sirius was relieved or terrified. James Potter's eyes narrowed and he brought one hand up, Sirius ducked and the ghostly hand brushed over the top of his head.

"What was that for?" he cried indignantly.

James Potter's face was so like his own that Harry had no trouble reading the glare that plainly said 'You Idiot.'

"So I was worried, I only went and got you killed."

The 'You Idiot' increased into 'You Moronic Idiot' and widened to include Remus as well.

"Hey," said Remus, "There was no doing anything with him. I'm only his boyfriend, why would he listen to me?"

The glaring contest was three-way now. It would have made Harry anxious but all three of them so resembled sulking first years that he giggled instead.

"Yes it is rather amusing," said Remus, "You'd never think they were adults, would you."

"Oh Moony, quit being a grownup," complained Sirius.

"Fine. _Expecto Patronum."_

A huge dog bounded out from the end of Remus' wand. A silver version of Sirius' Animagus form raced around the room barking silently and then spotted James Potter. Two seconds later the silver form of James Potter was on its back having his face ferociously licked.

"Your patronus changed back," said Sirius, he sank down onto the floor looking stunned.

"No Padfoot, it's always been the same." Remus crouched down beside him.

"It didn't change while I was in Azkaban?"

"No."

"Not even after Halloween?"

"No Padfoot."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"Perhaps because you never allowed me to get out two consecutive words about patroni without cutting me off. If you'd let me, I'd have told you what Harry's was. Go on Harry."

"_Now_ you want me to cast it," said Harry, sulky about being glared at earlier.

"Sorry Harry, but the patronus charm is too important. And if Sirius had seen your patronus first, I'd never have got him to cast the charm again in his life."

"Sounds mysterious," said Sirius, "Go on Harry. I'm impressed you can manage a corporal patronus at all at your age."

Harry grinned. Drawing his wand with a flourish, he only had to think back five minutes for his happiest memory.

"_Expecto Patronum."_

"Prongs," cried Sirius, as he stared wide-eyed at the huge silver stag. Remus' patronus sat up and appeared to whine in confusion before padding over to lick the stag's nose.

"Like father, like son," said Remus. "I mean really, with you and Harry being menaced by the dementors, where else would you expect James to be?"

"That just proves James is your godfather," said Sirius happily. Then his eyes narrowed and he whipped round to face Remus. "Wait a minute, you knew what Harry's patronus was. You sneaky, manipulative wolf. That was almost Slytherin."

Remus' smile was smug.

The silvery form of James Potter rolled his eyes at Harry and moved away from the bickering couple. Harry followed him. There was so much he wanted to say to his godfather, so many questions he wanted to ask. Looking sad, the patronus reached out with one hand and Harry could feel ghostly fingers ruffling his hair.

James Potter's eyes looked longingly at the empty to space to Harry's right, then he smiled at Harry as he gradually melted away into mist. Remus' patronus raced after him dissolving rapidly. Harry's butted his shoulder with his enormous head. Harry patted him on the nose and felt him fading into the air.

"Oh," said Sirius blankly, "He's gone."

"Yes," said Remus.

"But there was so much I wanted to ask him."

"Don't you realise you already know what James would say?"

"I…"

"Think about it Sirius." Remus rose to his feet. "Come over here Harry and I'll explain how you go about transfiguring one bed into three."

Harry did his best to pay attention to the lesson but his heart wasn't in it.

Remus sighed, "Never mind. I'm sure all you need is a bit of practice. I'll speak to Sirius about putting up some child magic wards."

"Child magic?"

"Yes, so underage wizards and witches can practice in their homes."

"Don't tell Hermione," blurted Harry.

Remus laughed.

Thinking about Hermione reminded Harry of something she'd once said about patroni.

"I thought a patronus was supposed to be an animal."

"It is yes. But Sirius has always been very literally minded for a wizard, as well as an exception to the rules. He's quite possibly the only wizard in history whose boggart and patronus are the same."

"Oh. My godfather?"

Remus nodded.

"Is Sirius all right?"

"He will be. Now do you want to borrow a night-shirt or anything?"

Harry shook his head.

"Okay then." Remus muttered a spell and tapped his hand three times. A towel, toothbrush and toothpaste appeared. "Here you are, these will do for tonight. If you and Ron don't sort things out tomorrow, we'll clean out another room for you. There's one down the end of the corridor that's pretty safe, it shouldn't take long to clear out the last of the Dark Magic."

"Do you think Ron will still be mad tomorrow?" Harry really wasn't sure how he should feel about Ron.

"I don't know Harry. It's a very difficult situation all round. But try and remember Ron's just found out the people he thinks of as family aren't his blood family. And of course there is the whole Boy-Who-Lived thing."

"So you think Ron was right to be mad at me?"

"No Harry, he isn't right and I didn't say that. All I am saying is that Ron has had a nasty shock, just as you have. You've been best friends for a long time and it would be a shame to loose that over something neither you or he had any control over."

"Humfph," said Harry.

"Just think about it. You don't have to make any decisions right now and whatever you chose to do, Sirius and I will support you. So go and clean your teeth and get ready for bed."

He wanted to protest about being sent away like a little kid but he'd seen Remus casting anxious glances at Sirius and figured he wanted to talk to him without Harry in the room. He was tempted to use one of his Extendable Ears but it seemed to dishonourable to listen in on what he was sure was a very private conversation. To remove all risk of giving in, he decided to have a shower.

The reward for his virtue was that he felt much better afterwards. It was as if he'd washed the whole stressful day down the plughole with the soapy water. Tomorrow was going to be new and exciting and almost scary. He wasn't Harry Potter the Boy-Who-Lived any longer, he was just Harry, godson of James and Lily Potter and _son_, he could only whisper it even in the safety of his own mind, of Sirius Black.

He was surprised to find he actually felt rather sorry for Ron.

-

Poking his head around the bathroom door, he found Remus and Sirius were already in their beds.

"You all right there kiddo?" asked Sirius quietly.

"Fine."

"Is that a Remus 'fine' or are you actually okay?"

"I'm okay honestly."

"Good."

Harry slipped into his bed and snuggled down. He was tired but he couldn't seem to settle down to sleep. Sirius was tossing and turning and his restlessness communicated itself to Harry. Eventually Sirius rolled right out of bed and hit the floor with a thump. Harry squinted through slitted eyes as he tried to work out if Sirius had hurt himself. Instead he saw the dark form of Padfoot shuffle over to Remus' bed. Padfoot whined softly.

"Oh all right," said Remus without moving, "Otherwise you'll keep me awake all night fidgeting."

Padfoot gave a happy little yip and sprang up onto the end of the bed. He turned around three times and then collapsed with a grunt on Remus' feet. Within minutes the room was filled with soft doggy snores. Harry relaxed at the soothing sound and his eyelids drifted shut.

-

The thunderous knocking on the door woke Harry with start. Jerking up in bed, he blinked rapidly as he tried to take in and make sense of his surroundings.

The knocking continued.

Padfoot, barking furiously, leapt from Remus' bed to stand guard against the offensive door. The door opened and Bill Weasley stuck his head around it.

"You're up."

"We are now," said Remus, sitting up in bed and straightening his pyjama cuffs. Padfoot growled.

"Good. Dumbledore just flooed to let us know he'd be coming to discuss matters with us in about half an hour. Mum's making breakfast."

"Thank you for letting us know."

"No problem Remus. We'll see you downstairs shortly then?"

"Yes."

Bill began to close the door, then leaned forward again, "Oh Charlie came in at about seven. He begged emergency leave from the Reserve and took an International Portkey from Bratislava."

"He didn't tell them..?"

"No, no. I didn't tell him anything to begin with. Told him to come home for Dad. Gringotts floos aren't that secure, the Goblins monitor them as a matter of course."

"Good thinking."

"Yeah. It scared the life out of him but when I told him the truth he was too relieved to punch me."

"And your father?"

"We'll worry about what to tell Dad after we've met with Dumbledore. Dad should be here, but in his condition we can't risk agitating him. You won't..?"

"Absolutely not. We may not agree with your mother on much at present but in this we will gladly follow her lead."

"Okay then, I'll leave you to get dressed."

"Are you okay, Bill?"

"I'm fine." Bill withdrew, shutting the door with a firm click.

"That," said Sirius, abruptly appearing in place of Padfoot, "Was definitely a Remus 'fine'."

"Yes poor boy. I'm pleased Charlie's arrived to share the responsibility. Hopefully it will make things easier on him."

"Nothing about this is going to be easy. And with that cheerful thought I'll go and clean my teeth. My mouth always tastes dreadful after a night as Padfoot."

"It's because you drool."

"I do _not_ drool."

Sirius flounced off to the bathroom, slamming the door with vigour.

"Oh dear," said Remus, "I think I've offended him. Apologies are obviously in order." Throwing back his bedcovers he chased after Sirius although he shut the bathroom door much more sedately.

Harry decided if that was the best Remus could do as an excuse for snogging, it was absolutely essential he moved into a new room today or he would end up scarred for life.

-

-

Next Chapter: The Explanation (the one you've all been waiting for)


	10. The Explanation

Okay, I'm a bit nervous about this chapter but I think it's a fairly decent explanation bearing in mind the following.

1. Canonically nobody alive (except maybe Voldemort) knows the full story of what happened that Halloween in Godric's Hollow.

2. Canonically nobody (including Voldemort) appears to have an explanation of how Harry and Voldemort ended up linked together.

3. I'm not a great believer in the Lily's sacrifice saved Harry theory. In my opinion Lily was doomed the moment Voldemort found the Potters in Godric's Hollow. His 'Get out of the way you silly girl' comments seem to be annoyance at another Potter getting in his way, not a genuine offer to spare her life. (Though I like whoever's idea it was that Lily was tricking him into a magical contract) If Voldemort had even slightest interest in keeping her alive he could have stunned her instead of using the killing curse.

-

-

-

The Explanation

-

"You ready Pup?"

"Been ready ages," said Harry looking up from a book on Apparation he found on the bedside table. He put the book down and stood up, grabbing is firebolt.

"You can leave that here," said Sirius.

"But…"

"It would probably be safer."

Harry considered that for a moment and then begrudgingly slid the broom under the bed, pulling the blanket down to hide it.

"Okay come here and let me look at you." Sirius straightened Harry's t-shirt. "You'll do."

"Sirius," tutted Remus, gazing in disapproval at rumpled clothes Harry had worn yesterday. He flicked his wand in an elegant figure of eight.

Harry yelped as clothes straightened and stiffened.

"You always put too much starch in it Moony."

"Only if I wanted to look like I'd slept in my clothes. Now we better get downstairs before they send up a search party."

As the descended the stairs they me the Weasley contingent leaving the kitchen. For a moment nobody said anything.

"You haven't had any breakfast," said Mrs Weasley a bit desperately.

"It's okay Mrs Weasley," said Remus, "We'll eat later."

"But…"

"And we really shouldn't keep Dumbledore waiting. He's a very busy man."

"Yes, yes of course."

Sirius, Remus and Harry hung back and let the Weasleys precede them into the meeting room. Dumbledore was already there, talking to a elderly, rotund Wizard in formal robes and half-moon spectacles.

The Weasleys were all clumped together around Mrs Weasley. Sirius took a seat a short distance away and pulled Harry down beside him. Remus took the seat on Harry's other side and they both positioned themselves so that Harry was half hidden from the room.

Dumbledore tapped his wand against the table, making a clear ringing sound to draw their attention.

"Good morning everybody, it is kind of you to join us."

"As if we had any choice," muttered Sirius, quite audibly. Dumbledore ignored him.

"If I may introduce my companion Gervase Philpott."

Hermione gasped. Sirius growled.

"Yes Miss Granger, the Head of the Department of Mysteries."

Looking across the room Harry could see Hermione was talking very low and very fast at Ron and presumed she was listing this Philpott's achievements. One of which appeared to be annoying Sirius and Remus judging from the way they were glaring at the man. Harry decided he didn't like Philpott at all.

"We should be very grateful to Mr Philpott for taking time out from his busy schedule to meet with us today." Dumbledore glanced at Sirius and apparently decided against another dramatic pause just then. "I am sure you all have questions about what happened that Halloween night and the days that followed."

"Yeah," Harry piped up, "Questions about trials and the lack of them."

Dumbledore straightened his glasses and stared directly at Harry.

"Mr Potter, as Mr Black is no longer your godfather, would you cease being so assiduous in cultivating the man's bad habits."

Harry opened his mouth to say he'd never much fancied smoking anyway, but Dumbledore didn't give him the chance and kept on speaking.

"Mr Philpott is here to help me answer your questions. Now would anybody like to start? Miss Granger perhaps?"

"Uh yes Headmaster, Mr Philpott." She stood up and Harry was unsurprised to see her pull a thick roll of parchment. "I have several questions. If Ron is Harry and Harry is Ron, how come Harry has Voldemort visions, and how come Harry is the one who speaks parsletongue and what about…"

"My dear child," said Philpott, "If I can stop you there."

Hermione sat back down with an annoyed little huff.

"I believe," he continued, "That many of your questions share the same answer. When my old friend Dumbledore asked for my help in hiding the Boy Who Lived, I was only too delighted to assist. Our first task was to try and comprehend exactly what happened that night at Godric's Hollow.

"You Know Who had apparently been defeated by a one year old child. Naturally this required some explanation. The most obvious was that Mrs Potter's death had activated a very ancient blood magic, although I have to confess we could not work out exactly how she achieved this."

"And I bet that burned, didn't it?" heckled Sirius, "Having to admit you'd been out-thought and out-magic'd by a _Mudblood_."

"There is no need for that sort of language Mr Black," said Dumbledore reprovingly.

"Oh, so when Philpott here turned down Lily's application to join his department it _wasn't_ because she was a filthy Mudblood, my mistake."

"I really don't know what you're talking about Mr Black," said Philpott shuffling his sheaf of papers nervously.

"That's because Sirius has got it wrong as usual," said Remus, "You turned Lily down because 'you didn't need a wretched Mudblood's grimy fingers ruining decades of priceless research'. It was when James complained to the Ministry that you said you didn't see why he was 'making such a fuss about a filthy Mudblood'."

"Oh yes," said Sirius snapping his fingers, "I remember now. And James hexed him, remind me Moony…"

"Green and silver," supplied Remus.

"That's right. Green and silver all over. And, was it feathers or scales?"

"Scales for skin, feathers for hair."

"That's it. And this Mudblood you were too full of yourself to employ, she was the one who defeated Voldemort and your precious department can't even figure out how she did it. Yeah I bet that burns."

"If you are quite finished Mr Black," said Dumbledore repressively.

"Oh I've barely even started, but I'll let old Philly dig himself a little bit deeper for the moment." Sirius grandly waved one hand to indicate Philpott should continue.

Harry snuck a peek at Hermione. Ron had his arm around her waist and she was watching Philpott with wide betrayed eyes. Harry decided he really, really didn't like Philpott.

"If you would like to continue Mr Philpott," said Dumbledore. "And I will remind the floor that matters will move a good deal faster if we can dispense with the interruptions."

"Thank you Headmaster," said Philpott. "Ah," he frantically scanned his papers.

"Lost his crib sheet," said Sirius.

With a desperate gulp for breath Philpott found his place. "Here we are. From what evidence remained we were able to piece together some of what had happened. When You Know Who cast the Killing Curse at young Harry Potter somehow the Curse backfired striking You Know Who."

Sirius and Remus both sat up straighter.

"Due to a number of reasons which are classified at this juncture..."

Sirius started to say something but Remus grabbed his wrist and gripped it tightly.

"You Know Who had a significantly weaker soul than the average Wizard; it shattered under the impact and his physical body was destroyed. The majority of You Know Who's soul re-coalesced to form a Wraith which we now know took refuge in Albania. We believe some of his soul was lost for ever, and one piece lodged itself inside Harry Potter. Naturally we…"

"Wait a minute," said Sirius.

"Mr Black I grow weary…" began Dumbledore.

"Do you want to know how Lily pulled it off, or not?"

Dumbledore's indifference fell away. The gaze he fixed on Sirius was as intent as a raptor's.

"How?" he demanded.

"Just let me run through this and check I've got it right. Voldemort was struck by his own backfired killing curse. No spell ever touched Harry. You know this for definite?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore tersely, "The investigation revealed that James and Voldemort duelled outside the house but inside the only spell we could trace was Voldemort's use of the Killing Curse. He used it twice, less than a minute apart. As far as we could tell Lily used no magic that night and Harry was utterly untouched by any spell. Obviously that couldn't possibly be correct and I could only presume that _in extremis_ Lily had accessed some long forgotten form of blood magic."

Sirius shook his head slowly, "You're a bloody fool Albus." He turned to Remus, "I am right aren't I Moony?"

Remus nodded, a small smile curving his lips.

"Yes!" shouted Sirius, jumping to his feet, "Lily you are a goddess among women and the true Queen of the Marauders." He swept into a courtly bow so low his bent knee hovered only an inch above the ground and it seemed to Harry his forehead skimmed the floor.

Glancing across at Hermione and Ron, he realised that, in a reversal of their usual roles, Ron was explaining the gesture to Hermione.

"It's a full pure-blooded ceremonial bow," said Remus to him quietly, "I've never been able to pull it off. If you don't start practicing by the age of five or six your muscles never quite adjust to it."

"Sirius," snapped Dumbledore.

"You do realise that you could have know at anytime if you'd just told us the full facts instead of blathering on about sacrificial magic. Hell, if you'd just told Remus the full facts, but oh no, we couldn't possibly have that."

"All right Sirius, you've made your point."

"Have I, have I really? Didn't your friend Philpott just mention facts that are classified at this juncture."

"You've made your point, Sirius."

"I hope so, because if you keep playing a lone hand, you'll end up playing on your own."

"Remus as you also seem to know the answer, perhaps you would be willing to share it with us."

"Oh no Headmaster," said Remus demurely, "Sirius has so few pleasures stuck here in this house I won't deprive him of his fun."

"Are you sure you want to know?" asked Sirius, "You've sold everybody this lovely romantic story of a mother's sacrificial love that's worthy of a ballad and an epic poem or two, but the truth, as it usually is, is much prosaic."

The room grew several degrees chillier.

"Tell. Me," ground out the Headmaster.

"Okay, okay, keep your robe on. And actually, now that I think about it, it is a story about love and sacrifice." Sirius' attention flicked briefly towards Ron. "It's about a man, the epic poem version always seems to forget James and I really don't think it's fair, a man who loved his wife and son so much he bought them the time they needed with his life. And while her husband died for them, the woman had the chance to make one desperate gamble. She knew it would cost her her life but she didn't care about that as long as her son survived.

"Unfortunately for romance aspect, the couple in question weren't a noble gentleman and lady, they were a couple of pranksters. So the heroine of the Wizarding World saved her son's life with a joke product she and her husband had invented six months earlier with a couple of their friends."

"Ahh," sighed Dumbledore, relaxing, "That's how you know. You recognised the effects from our description."

"Yes," said Sirius, "The simplest answers are usually the most likely. It took us ages to get the hex just right and make sure no trace of it would show up when people tried to work out what had happened. I don't really know why we bothered, we certainly never had any plans to use it. I guess we were so sick of Voldemort and his Death Eaters it was nice to have something else to talk about."

"We never even came up with a name for it," said Remus reminiscently.

"I think Potter's Ploy has a nice ring to it."

"Mr Black," said Dumbledore.

"Sorry. It was a simple thing really. The fiddly bit is enchanting a tiny needle of pure electrum with the hex. Then all you have to do is get the needle within an inch or so of someone's wand and it will stick as if it was magnetised. The wand will cast one spell normally to throw off suspicion, but the second spell will backfire. An enhanced version of the spell will travel back up the wand and strike the caster, kind of like how you described Ron's wand acting with Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry.

"James must have got Lily enough time to find one of our prototypes and she somehow managed to get close enough to Voldemort to booby-trap his wand. After that all she had to do was make sure the first Killing Curse hit her, not Harry."

"So that's how it happened."

"Uh huh, and how the Marauders defeated the finest minds in Wizarding Britain." Sirius sat down triumphantly. He nudged Harry with his elbow. "Proud of your godfather and godmother, kiddo?"

Harry nodded his head fiercely.

Dumbledore shook his head slowly in apparent disbelief, "I always said you were some of the finest students I ever taught."

"Unbelievable," stuttered Philpott, "Fifteen years of my department's valuable time wasted trying to figure out a Mudblood floozy's cheap trick."

There was a roar of protest from the assembled Weasleys but Sirius and Remus were already on their feet, wands out. A violent flash of green light seared Harry's eyes. When he could see clearly again Philpott had been transformed. He had the mottled scaly skin of a green and silver snake, while a great plume of cockatoo feathers stood up from his head.

"That was for James," said Sirius viciously, "This one's for Lily." Sirius' wand sparked and there was a low booming sound but Harry couldn't see any immediate effect. "She invented it especially for you but was too nice to ever cast it, said something about you not being responsible for your cultural upbringing. Fortunately she told me about it and I don't give a hang for your cultural upbringing."

"Sirius, you didn't?" said Remus.

"Yep. And why not? I always thought it was a shame to waste such a great jinx."

"I suppose it was at that."

Up at the head table, Philpott yelped with dismay.

"Figured it out have you Philly."

"Albus I must protest at my treatment at the hands of these ruffians. I accepted your assurances that Mr Black is an innocent man but perhaps I should investigate the matter further." He wiped his fingers fussily down the front of his waistcoat, leaving streaks of dirt in their wake. Noticing everyone's attention was fixed on his stomach, he glanced down and cursed.

"While you're in _my_ house you'd better keep your _grimy fingers_ to yourself," said Sirius, "And if Dumbledore didn't make you swear an oath of secrecy before bringing you here, he's not the man I thought him."

"Duty to the state overrides all other oaths," said Philpott, his loftiness somewhat marred by the fact he was holding his hands awkwardly out in front of himself as if they no longer belonged to him.

Remus coughed apologetically. "I think you might find that doesn't necessarily apply to oaths made to Dumbledore, Mr Philly."

Philpott's eyes flew to Dumbledore. "Albus is this true."

"I certainly wouldn't advise talking to anybody about these events Gervase. It might have rather unfortunate consequences."

"And you think people won't notice when I show up looking like this?"

"I'm sure all this unpleasantness will have been sorted out by then Gervase. But perhaps it would be better if I took over answering the questions for now."

"Fine." Philpott glanced around but didn't seem to find any sympathy. Folding his arms, he thrust his fists into his armpits and stumped off to a seat at the back of the room.

Dumbledore serenely took his place at the behind the table.

"Don't think for a moment I used up all my annoyance on your patsy, Headmaster," barracked Sirius.

"Ahh Sirius my boy," said Dumbledore, "What a politician you would have made if you could only control your temper and your desire to shock."

"You know funnily enough, my mother once said much the same thing."

Harry didn't need anyone to tell him that was meant to be an insult.

Dumbledore sighed, "Sirius please remember we are on the same side here."

"My enemy's enemy is my friend, huh. Depends how you define the enemy though, doesn't it?"

Dumbledore looked genuinely grieved. "Is it that bad my boy?"

He jerked his head towards Harry, "You can honestly ask me that with a straight face?"

"He miscalculated Padfoot," explained Remus, "He thought Harry no longer being James' son would make you drop him, not hold on tighter."

Sirius gave a disgusted snort and settled deeper into his chair. Dumbledore stared at him with an arrested expression.

"Questions," prompted Remus.

"Right," said Dumbledore pulling himself together, "Questions. We haven't really addressed Miss Granger's questions yet have we? Knowing how Lily Potter defeated Voldemort does not change the essential facts of the case. Voldemort appeared to be gone for ever but our scan of Harry Potter revealed a piece of Voldemort's soul lodged within him and I feared more of Voldemort was likely to have survived. That meant it was essential to guard the Boy Who Lived from further attacks. I still believe the method I chose was the best under the circumstances. But I fear on this we will always disagree, so I will move on.

"Swapping the children was relatively simple. One infant of less than two years looks much like another. A couple of renaming ceremonies and a few hereditary charms to ensure the children grew up resembling the family they had been transferred to…"

"You're skating Albus," Sirius pointed out.

"There is no need to go into the details at the present moment."

"If you say so." He didn't sound convinced at all.

"I do," said Dumbledore with gentle reproof. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"But," Dumbledore continued, "There was the matter of the piece of Voldemort's soul. I was loath to leave it inside the child for fear of future complications but at the same time I could see occasions in the future when it would be useful to have such access. It was such a small fragment it was unlikely to have an effect on the child's character, or indeed any effect at all while not in close proximity to Voldemort.

"So I, together with three other Occulmency experts, including Mr Philpott here, extracted the fragment from Harry Potter and transferred it to Ronald Weasley."

"You never told us that," said Mrs Weasley.

"I thought it better not to trouble you with such details."

"But Albus…"

"If I may continue Molly. Thank you. A baby's thought processes are naturally uncomplicated so it wasn't an overly difficult procedure to extract the fragment of Voldemort from his mind. I think however, judging from what the child know as Mr Potter hears when he is effected by the presence of a Dementor, that we also transferred Harry Potter's memories of that Halloween night. They must have been too intertwined for us to extricate them.

"Voldemort's soul was sealed safely inside the child now known as Mr Potter and he was then delivered to the Dursleys where he could grow up far from the Wizarding World. This link with Voldemort explains the phenomena mentioned by Miss Granger."

There was a moment's silence.


End file.
